


Seafoam Kettle-Eyes

by Kittydatefriend



Series: Seafoam Kettle-Eyes [1]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Alternate Universe - (mostly) Friendly Octarians, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Healing, Implied/Referenced Abuse, LGBT, Lesbians, Sapphic, Slow Burn, like really gay, this is gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2018-08-09 03:54:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 48,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7785781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittydatefriend/pseuds/Kittydatefriend
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s been a year since the Great Zapfish had disappeared and subsequently returned to Inkopolis, yet no one knows what happened to it during that time. Grii didn't give it much thought, but when she kept seeing a mysterious figure enter the sewers every night, she couldn't help but wonder what exactly was going on. The last thing she expected was to help an octoling seek refuge in her home, let alone become friends with said octoling.<br/>________________<br/>A semi-slice of life drama with romance at the forefront, follows Inkling and Octoling leads. Deals with themes of trauma, self discovery, and abuse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Octarians

**Author's Note:**

> I should probably mention that this is pretty much a fan-fiction tie-in to my blog, grii-and-tenta.tumblr.com. I was going to make it into a comic series but I found that I don't really have time to dedicate myself to a full blown fan-made project, since I'm going to be occupied with more original comic works, one of which is for school. (which I'm turning in for a grade. whee)
> 
> I'd like to also point out that this is my very first published fan fiction, and that I don't really write that often, so my writing skills are rather inexperienced. Despite that, I hope you enjoy reading this!
> 
> Oh, I've decided to keep this without archive warnings for the time being, but for certain chapters I'll likely be issuing warnings for sensitive subjects. I'll update it once those chapters come out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT: 7/21/2018: I rewrote this entire chapter. If you have already read it, I'll leave notes at the end that details exactly what I changed that would affect the plot. Thanks for reading ♥

_A long time ago, there was a story of a family whose lineage passed through eyes of seafoam green._

_Enchanting these people were, as they captured the hearts of many through the waves of the promised land._

_While hardships were plenty, and they found their souls rotting, flowers still grew in their chests despite the storms._

_I helped the flowers in her chest grow, as she did with mine._

_My one and only._

* * *

Over Inkopolis Tower, rays of sunlight reflected off the surface of the building. Hues of orange and yellow painted the skies as the sun began to retire for the day, prompting the inklings in Inkopolis plaza to pack their belongings and head home. Rollers, shooters, chargers and the like were slung over each kid’s shoulder as they grabbed their belongings from their lockers.

It wasn’t unusual for inklings to be especially noisy this time of the day; it’s difficult for any one of them to stay quiet about their battles from earlier in the day or to keep themselves from laughing at their own jokes. Even though jellyfish couldn’t understand them, they’d find themselves following the inklings out of curiosity of the differences in their lives.

Laughing, bickering, and teasing were commonplace in Inkopolis Plaza, as inklings were known for engaging in petty ‘fights’ between friends. It was a staple of their culture, especially considering the monthly event of a ‘splatfest’ where the very concept of pettiness was amplified to the extreme. Any well-mannered, reclusive Inkling was a strange one.

Grii was very much aware of this.

But at the very least, she still had the fighting, competitive spirit that each Inkling has in their soul. Becoming the best turf war athlete was an aspiration that she held close to her, considering she’d have to live up to her mother’s name. Clovie Nova-Lumen was one of the top turf war athletes in Inkopolis, known for her one-trick wonder splat charger career. Grii was similar to her mother in a way; she also was a one-trick, albeit with the Krak-on brand splat roller. She always donned an olive ski jacket, pilot goggles, and pro-trail boots which appeared rightfully bulky on her despite her being rather chubby herself. Still a beginner, she played turf war for only a few months and found herself stuck at B- rank in ranked battles.

Already 15, she felt herself lagging behind.

The thought of never catching up with her peers made her let out a sigh as she stood in front of the vending machine. She was so lost in thought she hadn’t realized she was spacing out in the middle of deciding on a drink, causing her to furrow her brow in frustration.

“Hey, Grii!”

Grii turned her head towards the familiar voice and found her friends Ann and Quinn walking towards her. Ann was an inkling who donned designer headphones, a layered vector LS tee, and an old pair of school shoes. Just a little bit under average height, she was skinny with a petite stature. Her skin was pale, her eyes were yellow, and her tentacles were colored pink. She gave off an aura of a know-it-all, straight-A student determined to separate right from wrong.

Quinn on the other hand was an ever-so-cheerful goofball who seemed to reside in her own world. Grii wasn’t sure if she’s ever seen her frown. Quinn’s sporty bobble hat, black anchor tee, and white arrows contrasted against her personality as rather dull and grey pieces of gear. Quinn’s eyes and tentacles were both blue with her skin color being a dark shade of brown.

Grii turned around and gestured a small wave at them, words escaping her.

“What, no hello?” Quinn teased.

“She waved, Quinn,” Ann rolled her eyes.

“Anywayyy,” Quinn sang. “You kind of just disappeared after our matches today, Grii. Was squad practice too much?”

Grii shook her head.

“It was fine, I just got thirsty,” she said. At this point, she picked a drink at random, displeased that kelp soda happened to be the one that she chose.

“I see, I see… Well, it’s good you’re finally getting practice after such a long hiatus. I didn’t think a break-up would be a reason why someone would take a break from ink sports…”

Quinn trailed off when she noticed Grii’s expression grew somber at the mention of a break-up. She muttered an apology as Ann tried to interject.

“What Quinn is trying to say, Grii, is that we’re glad to see you around more,” Ann smiled sympathetically. “We know that your break up with Reddin took a huge toll on your mental health, and we just want you to know that we’ll be here for you.”

Grii blinked a few times, her eyes trailing to other places, then she nodded slowly.

“Thank you,” she muttered, taking a sip of her drink. Ann and Quinn didn’t know the full story, and she wasn’t willing to tell them just yet. Or, ever, really.

“So… What are we going to do about squad?” Grii asked.

“What do you mean?” Ann raised an eyebrow.

“We only have three people and we’re going to need another person in order to be evenly matched against others.”

Quinn put a hand against her chin as she went deep into her thoughts.

“Maybe we can have someone powerful to fill the gap? Like, as strong as an octoling?”

Grii and Ann shared confused looks.

“As strong as an octoling?” Ann repeated, perplexed.

Quinn nodded.

“How do you like, know how strong an octoling is? Do you even know what one looks like?” Grii asked.

Quinn laughed. “It’s a figure of speech, guys! Unless…”

Ann shook her head. “Oh come on, you’ve got to be joking.”

“I wouldn’t care as long as we have a fourth person,” Grii admitted.

“Yeah, Ann. Are you afraid of octarians or something?”

Ann bit the inside of her lip and fiddled with her designer headphones.

“I’m not,” she muttered.

“Come on, are you sure? Cap’n Cuttlefish was going on about how they stole the great zapfish…” Quinn held her hands up and imitated a ghost, sounds included.

“You know he’s lying, probably,” Ann looked down at her feet.

Grii snorted.

“See? Even Grii thinks what you’re saying is ridiculous,” Ann scoffed.

“I never said-”

“Just admit you’re afraid of octarians, Ann!” Quinn teased.

Ann scowled at her.

“Fine, I’m afraid of octarians,” she mockingly waved her hands around. “There, happy?”

Quinn smiled and crossed her arms triumphantly. “Yep!”

 _That was a dumb argument,_ Grii thought. She shook her head.

Shortly after the argument, Ann and Quinn left the plaza together and boarded the train home. They invited Grii to spend the night over at Ann’s house, but she declined stating that she had other plans that night. What the other plans were was a secret, but her eyes pointed to a manhole cover that strayed off into the corner of the plaza. Every night when the sun went down, a mysterious figure slid into the manhole where Cuttlefish would be caught peering out of.

Grii found herself being the last person to leave the plaza each day, thus no one else knew about this strange happening. Curiosity poked at the back of her mind until she couldn’t bear to ignore it any further.

As she stood over the manhole grate, she nearly second guessed herself in doing down.

“..Going into the sewers,” she sighed. “I really am that bored, huh?”

Her ears perked up at a sudden strange noise that came out of it; echos of mechanical whirs and alien-like noises boomed from deep inside.

“Okay, now I can’t back out. I have to know,” she gasped.

Switching into her squid form, she slid through the grate and into the depths below. Wherever the source of the noises came from, it must be an answer to the mystery of what’s been going down the manhole every night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Changes:  
> \- Added poem to the beginning  
> \- Added visual descriptions of Ann and Quinn  
> \- Added a more detailed description of Grii  
> \- Changed Grii's motivation of going into the domes (previously she went in to figure out whether or not the rumors of the zapfish being captured by Octarians was true or not, but now her reason was to investigate the mysterious figure she saw entering the sewers out of curiosity)


	2. Octo Valley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT 7/21/2018: Rewrote/edited this chapter! I'll leave notes at the end for what exactly I changed.

“So, you’re really leaving tonight, huh?”

 

In a bunker stood two octolings, conversing with each other. Their figures were difficult to make out due to the room hardly bearing any illumination. The light bulb hanging from the ceiling flickered off and on as its power slowly dwindled, thus leaving the LED screens from outside being the only reliable source of light keeping the inside visible.

The walls were lined with grungy bunk beds placed in even rows, each one of them looking like they’re close to over a hundred years old. There wasn’t a single part of the room that wasn’t cracked in some way. The floor, the ceiling, and the walls were littered with dust from each orifice. To add to the unpleasantness of the building, the stench of rusting metal was inescapable.

A tall, muscular octoling absentmindedly chewed the tip of their tentacle while awaiting for an answer to their question. Even though the other octoling had her back turned towards them, she could feel their presence behind her. She turned her head towards them out of politeness and saw them standing just a foot away with their hand on their hip, their expression difficult to read due to their stoic nature, but their tone of voice suggested attentiveness.  
The both of them knew the to their question answer was ‘yes’, but the younger octoling knew they wanted her to say it for her own sake, to not back down and change her mind.

She paused from packing her bags and slowly nodded.

“I am leaving,” she answered firmly. “Will you come with me, Marin?”

Marin gave her a warm smile and shook her head. They walked over and stood next to her, setting their hand on her shoulder.

“I don’t think I can do that, Tenta,” They answered. “I know we used to talk about escaping to the surface once it gets bad enough down here, but…”

Their smile slowly dropped as they let out a quiet sigh.

“I’d just get in the way. If one octoling leaves, sure, no problem. But two? That’s too many.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Tenta argued. “You’ve been here longer than I have, it’s only fair that you come with me.”

She closed her bag after double-checking to make sure everything she needed was packed securely.

“I’m not going to the surface, anyway,” Tenta continued. “I’m going back to my godfather where the peace group resides.”

Marin frowned.

“You’re not getting the point-”

Tenta slung her bag over her shoulder and turned to face Marin, her stance firm.

“I’m not leaving you here,” she said.

Marin looked her up and down as if she were a heavy statue needed to be pushed several hundred yards, their snake-like eyes piercing right through her. They huffed in frustration before shaking their head.

“I can’t leave, Tiny,” they persisted. “My point still stands; if you’re gone, the only one who’d really care is Val.”

Tenta winced at the mention of the elite; the strictest and cruelest leader of the military camp training grounds who, at this point, wanted her dead.

“If both of us leave, that’d make the higher ups go nuts. They’ll send tons of bounty hunters after us if we escape and we’ll be found before the screens turn to daytime. You know octolings are a valuable asset to them,” Marin continued.

“I know, but-”

“But nothing, I can fend for myself in here just fine. You need to leave ASAP, especially after what happened last week.”

Tenta nodded slowly, understanding the importance of her escape. Her eyes trailed over to the window where the screens of the domes shone from outside. Leaving the military camp had initially gave her a sense of hope shortly after her arrival, but realizing she’d have to leave alone instilled a new fear into her.

Marin’s face was as pained as her own once she glanced back over to them, the weight of the situation finally dawning over both of them. Sadness didn’t suit Marin very well, Tenta decided. Their snake-like eyes, dark skin, and two extra fangs were stellar with the accompaniment of a laugh or a grin, but with a torn apart frown their features failed to shine brightly as they always did.

Tenta walked towards them, burying herself into Marin’s arms and holding them tightly. Marin returned the hug and rested their head on top of hers.

“I’m sorry,” Tenta sniffled.

“It’s alright, I don’t blame you for leaving. It’s hell down here.”

“After the military lets everyone go, I’ll come back for you. You can stay with me and my godfather. We have room for you to stay with us.”

“...Sure, that sounds good,” Marin nodded. Tenta could hear the doubt in their voice but she brushed it aside. She’d have to remain hopeful for the both of them since Marin wasn’t.

“Have I told you that you’re like a sister to me, Tenta?” Marin whispered.

“Plenty of times,” she laughed softly.

“I wish you actually were though, maybe then I wouldn’t have run away from home,” they said once letting Tenta go.

“In Octo Canyon? Please, I would’ve run away with you.”

Marin laughed.

“Come on, it’s not THAT bad over there,” they teased. “Well, I mean my family sucked, but…”

Marin trailed off, unsure what else to say.

“A-anyway, we should start heading out. I can’t believe Val challenged Agent 3 to a fight in the middle of the night,” they scoffed.

“If it makes it easier for me to escape with Val being distracted and all, I can’t complain,” Tenta shrugged.

“I guess that’s one way to look at it,” Marin commented. “Good luck out there, Tiny.”

“Thank you, I’ll try to stay safe.”

They gave each other one last hug before exiting the barracks. From the many months she stayed in the military dome, Tenta nearly forgot what it was like to be anywhere else. She gave one last look of the place around her. It was of course, on a floating platform much like any other place in Octo Valley, but it was larger than anything she knew. It was barren aside from the presence of the training ground in the middle, the barracks behind her, and the captain’s building off on the other side of the land. Grass was nearly non-existent as the ground was either dirt or concrete.

“I’m not going to miss this place,” she muttered.

“Good,” Marin responded.

Neither of them knew what was laid out for that night, but they kept along anyway without giving it much further thought.

* * *

_Finally, I can see the moonlight from outside._

Inside the pipes of the sewer, Grii made her way through the underground. It was cramped, despite being in her squid form, and she longed to finally reach the source of the strange noises. Through the grate above her she could hear the whistling of the wind and the rustling of leaves from the surface. This had to be it.

Problem was, however, the grate was several yards above her.

 _I’m going to have to super jump for this._ She groaned in annoyance.

Bracing herself, she launched up through the pipe above and passed through the grate. Grii landed crookedly on the ground and nearly fell over, but she managed to catch her balance in time.

“I never want to go through a sewer again,” she mumbled.

When she looked up from the ground, she was met with breathtaking scenery that she had never seen the likes of before.

There were large breaks of land that floated on platforms in the sky with tall structures standing firmly on them. It was difficult to see what lie in the distance due to the sun finally setting, but her eyes made out a rock statue in the shape of an octopus, with arms that stretched far across the ends of the valley.

Grii realized she was in Octo Valley, the last place she’d expect a sewer to lead to. The realization of it made her gasp, her lungs filling with humid air nearly bringing her to a coughing fit. Being spotted was the last thing she wanted to happen, thus she tried to suppress it.

Shortly after, a shack in the corner quickly caught her attention. As she got a closer look, she noticed a board nailed to the front of it.

It was hard to make out what was on the board until she found a small flashlight lying on the ground. She turned it on and pointed it in front of her.

The board was covered in photographs of tentacle creatures with various shots of their bodies; each photo posted haphazardly with tacs, tape, and staples. Judging by the fact she was in Octo Valley, she assumed they were octarians. They bore shocked expressions on their faces in each photograph. Grii furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

Maps and posters were also displayed, but the one that caught Grii’s attention the most was the one with the Great Zapfish on it. A trail of X’s and arrows lead to it without any real sense of direction, but they all seemed to be pointing from outside Inkopolis.

Grii stood there, trying to decipher the meaning behind it. She looked over the board again in hopes of a written explanation to no avail.

Then, a deep rumble made her jump in place. Her ears perked at the source of the noise and she turned her head, met with the image of Cap’n Cuttlefish asleep in his chair snoring. Grii shook her head.

 _One of the few people who knows what’s going on here and he’s asleep. Great._ Grii sighed. She turned to the sewer grate with the intention of leaving until a deep noise came rumbling out of it. Startled, she jumped back and hid behind Cuttlefish’s chair, making herself as small as possible. She heard a distinct _plop_ come out of the grate and a thud follow shortly after.

Grii peeked over from behind the chair and could barely make out the figure of an inkling standing on top of the grate. Their features were nearly impossible to see. Despite that, however, long tentacles tied on the back of their head could be made out in the silhouette.

The inkling turned their head towards Cuttlefish’s chair, causing Grii to nearly stumble backwards as she ducked further behind it.

“Seriously, Captain?” they grumbled, voice barely audible. “I thought I told you I was showing up tonight.”

Cap’n Cuttlefish was unphased by this as he was dead asleep, snoring louder and louder to the inkling’s dismay. They shook their head and entered the side of the shack.

“Whatever, I can do this without him,” said their muffled voice from inside the shack. Sounds of metal clangs echoed inside the building in a rhythmic matter, slowly coming to a halt after several moments. When they came out, they were holding a gun of a model Grii hadn’t recognized before. Its form was alien with straight lines at the base and curves at the top, creating a jarring contrast within itself. The weapon glowed with rows of blue lights much like the gear of the inkling holding it.

Grii felt bewilderment settle into her mind. _What could this person possibly be doing here?_ She thought. _Octo Valley is empty, I think, aside from Cuttlefish._

Cuttlefish snored louder, briefly cutting off Grii’s train of thought.

_...But there must be something going on for them to talk about pulling something off by themself._

She watched them spin their weapon using one hand, throw it up in the air, and catch it in one go. After casually pulling off that trick, they switched into their squid form and launched themself into the sky, landing on a structure in the distance and slipping themself through what looked like a giant tea kettle.

_Maybe they can explain this._

Grii ran out from behind Cuttlefish’s chair and launched herself after the other inkling. Taken aback by how far away the structure actually was, she felt her stomach lurch while looking down into the pit below her. There was no visible bottom; only mist could be seen rising up from the depths.

Grii landed on top of the kettle with a loud clank. She stood over it, wondering where exactly this structure could lead to.

“I hope it’s not another sewer,” she muttered. She looked back at the shack from where she stood, its structure looking far smaller the further away she was.

 _This wasn’t a good idea,_ she thought. _Why am I going the extra mile to figure all of this out?_

She couldn’t deny the burning curiosity inside her, that’s for sure, but there was something else to this whole thing that she couldn’t let go. It felt like something was calling out for her to come here, whether it was the noises coming from the sewer or the mysterious inkling in the plaza; the siren’s song beckoned her to where she stood.

Grii sighed. There was no turning back now. She needed answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Changes:  
> \- Marin and Tenta have a lengthier dialogue  
> \- This dialogue references Val  
> \- Mentions Marin's family  
> \- References Marin previously living in Octo Canyon  
> \- References military control over Octarian citizens  
> \- Description of training camp is more in depth  
> \- Removes references of Octarian living situations being taught in Grii's school. [Octarians are an invisible society in the SFKE universe, closer to in-game canon now]  
> \- Grii has more thoughts  
> \- Agent 3 is more serious now


	3. In The Domes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway here is chapter 3! This one was a lot of fun to write! There's a bit of violence in this chapter but it shouldn't be too bad, no blood or anything.
> 
> EDIT 7/21/2018: Edited and rewrote bits of this chapter as well! Please check the end for summarized notes!

Grii stood firmly on the floating land she found herself on. The inside of the dome was much like Octo Valley from the outside, with floating platforms and large, indistinguishable structures. The difference now, though, was the LED screens that surrounded the area. It displayed images of a starlit sky but failed to capture the vastness of the original form it tried to imitate.

She didn’t expect the kettle to lead to an underground world that appeared to be a decaying city, an almost faux Inkopolis. If she had to construct a map of the area, she’d likely tear it up and ask if she’s going crazy. Where she’d even look first was a mystery to her.

Luckily, she caught sight of the inkling she was following. They stood in front of her just meters away with their back turned, not making a sound. All Grii could hear was the buzzing of the screens in her ears and distant metallic creaking.

The inkling’s features were visible now in the presence of the screens. They had long lemon-yellow tentacles with blue tips, tied to the back of their head with a blue band. They were as skinny as a pencil and pale as snow with gear similar to that of a crossing guard.

Grii walked toward them, passing stacks of leftover crates as she walked. The land grew wider the closer to them she got, causing Grii to scan the area in confusion for a brief moment.

She jumped when a deafening screech filled the air. Off in the distance, a windmill’s hinges snapped, taking the entire structure down with it into the abyss. Grii gasped in horror, but the inkling in front of her remained unphased, simply examining their weapon. They appeared to be waiting for something.

Grii opened her mouth to talk-

“You should leave, kid,” the inkling interrupted.

Grii shut her mouth in surprise, her eyes growing wide. Words escaped her as she could only stare down at her feet and nervously rub her hand.

“It’s dangerous down here,” they continued. “Octarians are no friends to Inklings. They’re afraid of us, and they will shoot you on sight.”

They slowly turned their head, icy blue eyes coming into view and shooting her a look as cold as their voice. Grii nearly recoiled. Making eye contact with anyone was already difficult enough, but with this person it was somehow harder.

“If it’s so dangerous, then... Then what are you doing here?” she squeaked.

“I’m doing my job: protecting Inkopolis from invaders. I’m a highly trained agent, so this is just another night out for me,” they explained. “I should be asking what are you doing here?”

Their voice came out like an accusation instead of a question.

“I um… I see you crawl into the sewers every night,” Grii explained, sweat dripping down her forehead. “So I kind of followed you here because I felt like I needed to.”

The inkling blinked slowly.

“You need to leave, there’s Octolings coming here in just a few moments.”

“...Octolings?”

The inkling nodded.

“They’re like us, except instead of squids, they’re octopuses. They have a human form and an octopus form, and they’re _very_ dangerous-”

They both paused. Grii perked her ears and recognized the sound of a super-jump rumbling through the air at a volume much louder than that of one squid, assuming they were even squids. The inkling in front of her bolted up into a fighting stance and cocked their gun.

“Shit, they’re here!” The inkling yelled. “Take cover, kid, It’s too late to run. Whatever you do, don’t intervene.”

Grii ran at their command and took cover behind a stack of crates, wishing she never went down there in the first place. _If Octolings are as dangerous as this person says, then I must be doomed._ She thought, fear gripping at her heart.

Grii carefully peeked from behind the crates to get a better look of what was unfolding around her. Then, she saw a large group of figures land right in front of the agent.

Octolings. A whole lot of them.

They looked nearly identical to inklings with exception of the four red tentacles coming out of their heads, similar to the Octarians Grii saw in the photographs on the shack. Their outfit contrasted against the agent’s gear; they wore heavy brown boots, shorts with a brown belt around their waists, and chest plates that were held in place by leather straps over the shoulders. Grii could barely make out the ink tanks on their backs, but she saw they were filled with strange purple ink. Each of the octolings wore metal goggles that covered part of their faces with shining lights in the visors making them look like expressionless drones. Grii shivered.

One of them stepped forward in front of the agent. She was taller than most of the other octolings in the group and she looked quite different from them, too. Her tentacles were black with a long kelp "crown" flowing from them. In addition to the metal chest plate, she had armor plates on her legs and heavier looking boots that sported more metal shielding. Grii assumed they were the leader of the squad.

The leader grinned in a rather unsettling way.

“Nice to see you here, Agent 3. I didn’t think you’d turn up,” she spoke. Her tone of voice seemed friendly, but there was a passive aggressive undertone that suggested hostility instead. This was evident with Agent 3’s ears flattening in disgust.

“Yeah! Val was so worried you’d never show, she really wants to give you a piece of her mind!” Another octoling with black tentacles bounced over. They were significantly shorter with the kelp on their head matching their height and a crack resting straight in the middle of their goggles.

Suddenly they were smacked straight in the face with an octoshot, forcing them down to the ground.

“Shut up, you good for nothing degenerate! I should’ve left you at camp,” Val growled, wiping off her octoshot with the palm of her hand. The fake friendly demeanor she previously held faded, leaving Grii even more unnerved than she was before. “Step out of line again and you’ll regret it, Goofball.”

Goofball lifted themself off the ground unphased, stepping back into the crowd of octolings behind them. Agent 3 raised an eyebrow at them in confusion and shook their head. They returned their gaze to Val, lifting up their weapon.

“What is it that you want, Val?” They asked impatiently. They pointed their gun straight at her face, gritting their teeth.

Val looked back at Agent 3 and smiled devilishly.

“I thought I told you I wanted to make a deal with you.”

Agent 3 didn’t lower their weapon.

“I have no memory of this, and I’m not interested regardless.”

“Why not?” Val’s face shifted into a scowl.

“I’m not interested in making deals with a sore loser. Your King, Octavio, has been captured by me and the rest of the agents. Yet, you continue to threaten to steal the Great Zapfish from under our noses. Inkopolis doesn’t need another power scare or invasion threat.”

Grii was astonished. Cap’n Cuttlefish was right, Octarians did steal the zapfish before. She didn’t know what to do with that information, would anyone even believe her?

As the thought of even telling anyone else entered her mind, Agent 3 looked back at her and squinted as if telling her to keep what they said a secret. Grii didn’t care, instead she scooted slightly forward to get a better look at the other octarians behind Val.

“Oh Agent 3, my deal is a compromise to end this whole power fiasco,” Val smiled. “I’m no higher-up of the Octarian Military, but I’m sure our deal will make both you and them happy.”

Agent 3’s ears perked up. They lowered their gun and stood up straight, looking over the octolings that stood in front of them.

“What were you thinking?” Agent 3 questioned. Their stance remained tense despite their interest.

“You and I fight for the right to keep the zapfish. If I win, you let all the octolings here take a zapfish, without interfering.”

She smiled condescendingly at Agent 3 then stepped aside, gesturing to the octolings behind her.

“If you defeat me, then you’ll get to take out each trainee behind me.”

“WHAT?!” the entirety of the octolings cried out in protest. They chattered back and forth with each other in disbelief and scrambled over their own words, trying to find a way to convince Val to go with an plan. Panic shook their voices and none of them could calm down.

“Is she serious? How can she put our lives on the line like that? I don't want to die!”

Grii felt fear grip at her chest. She couldn't imagine that a person so heartless towards their own kind existed, but here she was, standing a few yards away from her. She couldn’t imagine what would happen if Val caught sight of her. Would she ignore her? Or would she kill her, just for fun? The answer leaned towards the latter.

"You're nuts, Val!" Cried out an Octoling who was the tallest and arguably the most muscular of the group.  
Grii peered at the tall octoling and found a tiny one standing close next to them. The tentacles on the back of her head were small and nubby, a trait that only one or two other octolings in that group shared. She wore a large frown on her face that curled at the edges of her mouth and held a firm grip on the bag she carried.

 _Why does she have a bag?_ Grii wondered. She didn’t give it much thought once she realized the Octoling was then making eye contact with her. Grii nearly fell backwards. What was the octoling going to do?

To her surprise, the octoling’s expression quickly turned into one of shock as she motioned for Grii to hide. Grii only stared back out of bewilderment until the octolings gestures became more extravagant, prompting her to follow her instructions and hide further behind the crates.

Agent 3 looked Val in the goggles, stunned.

“...You’re suggesting I destroy a bunch of children?”

Their question sounded more like a statement. Val only stood in place with her arms crossed.

“If you win, that is,” she argued.

“Right. I’m not accepting your challenge,” Agent 3 snarled. “I’m not risking the zapfish, and I’d expect better from a leader than to sacrifice their tutors for such a lowly cause. Take your deal and shove it.”

They turned their back to Val and began to walk away, silence filling the air of the dome. All eyes were focused on Agent 3 as their footsteps were the only sound that pierced the silence.

"You coward!" Val screeched at the top of her lungs. She pulled out an endless stream of splat bombs and threw them towards Agent 3 in a barrage, more than anyone could count.

Grii saw the puddles of ink that emerged from the bombs and found they were instead filled with black, oozing liquid. It sizzled and bubbled on the ground with steam radiating from it. She took that as a sign to run and shot out from behind the crates, sprinting quickly in the direction she came from to try to escape.  
Agent 3 rose from the gusts of steam that now surrounded the area. They met face to face with Val and fired their gun at her, landing a few shots of yellow ink on her body but quickly found them deflected due to her armor.

Val gripped Agent 3's arm and slammed their body against the ground, making them gasp from the impact and knocking the wind out of their body. Agent 3 trembled against the metal floor and Val secured her grip on their shoulders, successfully pinning them down. She looked up with a blood thirst in her eyes, adrenaline pumping through her body. She saw her next target and chuckled delightfully.

"Agent 3, you didn’t tell me you brought a friend," She taunted.

Agent 3 didn't answer but instead continued to gasp for air and writhed on the ground. They tried to speak but nothing came out, only more gasps of pain.

"Don't worry, I'll make her demise quick. I don't know about painless, though," She snided.

She let out a snicker attempting to taunt Agent 3 even further. They reached for her tentacles and she jerked her head away, took out her gun and smacked Agent 3 with it making them recoil and slam their head against the ground.

Val caught sight of Grii running and threw several splat bombs, all which landed in front of her one after another. She skidded and tried to steer the other way but the bombs detonated before she could run any further. They exploded and black liquid hit her back, melting through her clothes and coming in contact with her skin. She gasped, doubled over, and gripped her hands on the ground trying not to pass out.

Then she realized the pain was too great. She wasn't going to pass out, she was going to die. As she fought to hold on, her vision went in and out of fuzziness. All the noise around her echoed in her head, along the sound of her heartbeat that beated rapidly inside her. She heard Agent 3 cry out for her, a haunting laughter from Val, and quickening footsteps coming to her side. Val was coming to finish her off, and she knew it'd be impossible to escape then.

She heard Val's angry yell from the distance.

Grii fell over to her side and saw small boots in her vision. She looked up and could hardly see past 3 inches in front of her, as she was nearly blind. A red and gray blob was all she could make out from her vision and she wondered if they were going to finish her off instead.  
Then, everything went black.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Changes:  
> \- Agent 3's characterization is more serious to match later chapters  
> \- Agent 3 and Grii's dialogue changed  
> \- Dialogue between Val and Agent 3 changed


	4. Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 4! Posted a bit early than usual but I figured I might as well since it's already done. Enjoy~
> 
> Edit 8/25/2017: Changed some descriptions and dialogue

Darkness surrounded her. She felt an air of emptiness in the void that stretched for miles and miles with no hint of life around which overwhelmed her with loneliness. She reached out in front of herself and her arm came into view. Her brown skin glowed in contrast with the darkness in a way that made the shine of the moon look dull. Her hands grasped for something, anything, but no feeling or force graced her fingertips. Instead, all she felt was the pulse of her soul radiating through her limbs.

_ I'm dead, _ Grii thought. _ I really am dead. _

She stared ahead in silence. There wasn't anything she could do about the fact that she was dead. The afterlife seemed pretty nonexistent aside from her body floating in a direction she assumed was downward. No sight of the promised land of clouds that housed the spirits of loved ones who died, no greetings from fiery souls that flew around hers as they guided her to reincarnation, and certainly no interaction with the soulmate she never got the chance to meet.

Then she realized that she hadn't lost anyone back when she was alive. Sure, her relationships died, but not the people behind them. It was only the friendships from when she was younger that ceased to exist. That, and her past relationship.

Her past relationship. Her ex. Her ex who  _ hurt her. _

She shuddered at the thought of his, well, everything, and gripped her hands over her arms and hugged herself. At least she'd never get to see him again.

Then she thought about all the people she'd never get to see again. Her mom, her aunt and uncle, her grandparents, her cousin, her friends, her acquaintances. People who all cared about her even if she was the least impactful person alive, or in this case, dead. Her eyes stung and a lump settled its way into her throat.

She wondered how they'd react if they found out about her passing. Would Ann and Quinn blame themselves for her departure? She hoped not. She was the one who followed Agent 3 into the domes anyway. She knew her mother would withdraw and mourn for a lifetime, wondering why the world was cruel enough to take her Grii away from her. She also thought of her cousin, Tint, and realized there'd be no one to teach him about turf wars in the same way she did. She was grateful for him once they actually started bonding over the experience of stepping up the ranks to become the best turf athlete, and was even more grateful when he intervened once things between her and her ex grew sour.

She really was going to miss all of them.

Tears met her eyes and ran down her face. Her body shook with sobs and her cries echoed back to her in the void, almost cruelly mocking her in return.

She stopped crying once she realized that perhaps all those people she cared about would come to her in their passing instead and she just had to wait. She really didn't want them to die, but it'd have to happen eventually. That's how life went. Grii pondered if the void happened in real time or if everything was on fast forward while she stayed there. She couldn't tell and her jaw clenched tighter.

She kicked her legs out in front of her in a fit of anger and betrayal and found they were accompanied with a white silky fabric. She looked down and saw she was wearing a plain white dress that shined even brighter than her own skin. There was nothing that struck unique about it until she found a ribbon tied around her waist, with a bow that seemingly flowed to the far ends of the void.

It was green. More specifically, seafoam green, her favorite color.

Suddenly, she felt the force of the downward pull increase, and her dress flowed rapidly against it. She cried out, surprised at the sudden weight of gravity and braced herself for a hard landing despite there being no land in sight.

Gravity slowed and Grii drifted onto solid ground, her feet felt the warmth of the surface beneath her and it soothed her whole body, flowing into her core.

Her mood lifted and she twirled her body around, causing her dress to spin with her and shine light across the void. Her cheeks grew warm and she felt laughter bubble from her core and out through her body, causing her mouth to curl into a hearty smile. She didn't know why she felt so happy, but it was the happiest she felt in her whole existence.

Then she felt something radiate behind her, jolting her to stop in place with a flush in her cheeks and warmth to boil up in her chest. She slowly turned her head back, nervous but somehow excited at the same time.

A giant white circle that spanned miles in every direction shadowed her. The light from it shined against her skin and she fully turned around to get a proper look at it. Grii was amazed.

As she gazed at it, the center broke and white liquid flowed out from it like a gentle wave hitting the shore of a beach. It covered her shins and felt cold against her skin, but she continued to stand in place without moving an inch. The void was no longer pitch black and lonely but instead white and lively. It glowed with her and breathed life into her body.

The last of the remaining liquid fully drained and revealed a black hole surrounded by a seafoam green circle that touched the horizon in front of her. The flush in Grii's cheeks grew stronger and she felt something she never felt before in her life. 

It was a strange feeling that conflicted inside her.

It felt warm, it felt cold. It felt sweet, it felt bitter. It felt calming, It felt scary. It felt soothing, it felt agonizing.

It called to her.

Grii walked forward, longingness flowing through her every footstep as the white sea clung to her legs and splashed as she moved. She stopped. She was inches away in front of the seafoam green circle, blushing in front of it with half-lidded eyes. She lifted up her hand and reached to touch it. When it made contact, a spark of energy shot through her entire body and all the senses from earlier intensified to an amazing degree.

The warmth caressed her body, the cold made her cry. The sweetness kissed her lips, the bitterness furrowed her brow. The calm kept her at peace, the fear made her aware. The soothe kept her alive, and the agony was her obstacle.

She wanted it. She wanted to be engulfed in this intangible feeling that made her feel she was the most important thing in the world. And somehow, she found she wanted to return the feeling as well.

As she and the seafoam circle, The Feeling, shared a connection, she felt the emotions of her past melt through her body and was instead replaced by the strange feeling. It made tears of joy drip down her face as she sighed in relief, finally being free from the pain that burdened her.

Grii looked at the hand she used to touch The Feeling and to her surprise, The Feeling engulfed her fingertips like water in a pond with ripples that reverberated through her large form. Grii looked at her again and felt The Feeling tell her that everything was going to be alright.

The Feeling told her she loved her.

"I love you too," She whispered back.

Grii reached her other hand into The Feeling's form and watched her engulf it all the same. It's not enough. Grii thought. I want to be closer.

When she went further in, she realized The Feeling also had pain of her own. The pain clutched the very center of her being and kept her in the void, where she and Grii didn't belong. Despite The Feeling's pain, she remained compassionate and held on. She provided life for Grii.

That made Grii love her even more and she wanted to give her life too.

She doesn't deserve her pain, She deserves better. I want to help her. Grii ached.

She put one foot in front of the other and walked forward head first into The Feeling. The Feeling's form flowed over her as she continued on, their mutual understanding of each other allowed Grii to continue further inside without difficulty.

The Feeling glowed even brighter in one grand finale and silently faded away, disappearing and taking Grii and the white sea with her.

The void was empty again, the most peaceful it's been in a long time.

A voice echoed through it.

* * *

 

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

An unfamiliar voice spoke softly to Grii. It sounded strange and foreign to her ears, but somehow pleasant at the same time. She couldn't tell where she was or what happened to her previously, but that didn't matter to her at the moment. She wanted to hear the voice again, even if it did sound a little worried.

Wait, why was it worried?

She tried to open her eyelids but found they were heavy rocks on her face. She pushed her body to move but sharp pain seeped from her back and traveled through her veins, making movement take too much effort. Instead, she continued to lie down. The dream she had when she passed out began to fade away, no matter how hard she tried to hold onto it. Grii didn't want to let go but found she had no choice, as the feelings she experienced in the realm began to disappear and were replaced with fear.

She remembered Val was going to kill her.

Grii's eyelids flipped open and she shot forward. She gasped when the wounds on her back screamed so she shut her eyes to dull out the pain. Immediately she found herself pushed back gently onto the ground by the shoulders.  After a few moments, she opened her eyes again and recognized she was in Octo Valley but a different part of it, somewhere at a higher altitude.

She sat up and caught herself staring right into the metal goggles of an octoling.

"Please don't move! You're really injured and moving around like that will only make the pain worse," The octoling begged her.

Grii stared back, taking the time to process the octoling's words. There was an uncomfortable silence between the two of them that carried on for a little too long. The octoling removed her hands from Grii's shoulders and sat down next to her, waiting for her to at least say something but found Grii probably wasn't in the mood to start a conversation. Instead, the octoling tried to initiate a dialogue.

"Are feeling you okay?"

Grii did the most logical thing she could think of in that moment.

"GAAHHHHH!"

She decked the octoling away from herself by the palm of her hand and sprung to her feet in a fighting stance, ignoring the pain that seared into the back of her body. The octoling cursed as she fell and reached her arms out before she hit the ground. She landed on her hands, looked back up to Grii, and bared her teeth in anger.

"My GOD, seriously?! What in the world has gotten into you?!" The octoling hissed. She picked herself off the ground and faced Grii with a posture that seemed too proper to be threatening. "I'm trying to help you and yet you push me to the ground," She huffed. As she stood, she brushed herself off, inspecting her own hands in the process and making sure there were no cuts on them.

Grii lowered her stance and realized this was the small octoling with the nubby tentacles from earlier.  The octoling now looked irritated instead of angry and crossed her arms, still waiting for a reply.

"You're not... going to hurt me?" Grii sheepishly asked, eyes darting left and right. The octoling in front of her shook her head.

"I don't have a weapon, you're clearly taller and stronger than me, and fighting you after patching your wounds -- prior to you waking up might I add -- would be counterproductive," She insinuated. "Hurting you is the last thing on my mind."

"W-well... What about the whole zapfish invasion thing?! I heard what Agent 3 said. Octarians are all after the zapfish and they want to take over Inkopolis! Your king has been kidnapped and yet you're still trying!" Grii snapped.

The octoling looked at her with an empty stare.

"I don't want to steal the zapfish, I never did. I don't even want to fight."

Grii paused in confusion. "Then why were you with Val and those other octolings?"

"Because I never had a choice. I got forced into the military to fight against my own will because I am an octoling. We are the strongest of the octarians and low in supply, so we're automatically drafted in," She frowned and looked away, lamenting over this fact. "Before I was drafted, I was a part of a peace group that was led by my godfather. We wanted to bring peace between Inkopolis and Octo Valley, especially in light of the recent power scares in the domes."

"Power scares?" Grii raised her eyebrow.

The octoling nodded. "The reason why the zapfish were stolen in the first place was to keep electricity flowing to the kettles. We're running low on power, which is causing the domes to collapse and change our way of living for the worse. The Peace Group is trying to unite Octovalley with Inkopolis to fix this issue, but our king had other plans. He painted Inklings as threatening and predatory, trying to sway Octarians from going to the surface. The Peace Group wants to try to convince others that there’s no reason to fear Inklings."

Grii had a better understanding of the situation now. Her mind trailed to the windmill falling over and couldn't imagine how scary the structures of floating land falling into the abyss would look. She looked to the octoling in sympathy and realized that this is the person who had saved her life, shaping her in a new light.

"What's gonna happen to you? Are you going back to the military?" Grii questioned.

The octoling shook her head. "I escaped, as well as saving you in the process. I don't think anyone deserves to be on the receiving end of Val's wrath."

Grii smiled at her in appreciation. "Thank you so much for saving me, I owe you my life. What's your name?"

The octoling looked at Grii in surprise as if she wasn't expecting to be thanked, or Grii wanting to know her name? The inkling couldn't tell.

"My name is Tenta," She dipped her head.

"Mine's Grii."

"Alright, Grii. And about your wounds, hopefully they'll heal up okay but I may have to check them again in a little bit." 

Grii realized that she wasn't wearing her jacket and instead was wrapped in bandaging. She shot Tenta another look and mischief crossed her mind.

"You took my jacket off without my permission," Grii sputtered fakely, huffing as if she were offended.

Tenta stared at Grii in disbelief and put her face head into her hands.

"I didn't want to believe the whole 'inkling brains are simple and predatory' study, but now... God, you're acting like a child. Listen, I did what was necessary to keep you alive and-"

Grii laughed for a few moments and her words slurred nonsensically when she spoke.

"What? What are you saying?" Tenta squeaked in embarrassment.

"I said I was joking. Can I have my jacket back now?"

Tenta rolled her eyes and handed the jacket back to Grii. Grii put it on, shaking it to fluff it up. The inkling got a better look at Tenta and saw her body seemed skinnier than it should be (at least Grii thought it did? Are Octolings just naturally very skinny or was Tenta malnourished?) and her skin seemed to have never seen sunlight in its life.

Grii jumped when Tenta turned to look at her.

"So, Grii... What were you doing in the domes in the first place?"   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for chapter 4! Grii and Tenta "formally" meet for the first time woo!!
> 
> Changes:  
> \- Modified Tenta's explanation (previously, it was implied that Octarians aren't allowed in Inkopolis. Now, it's Octarians refuse to go to Inkopolis out of fear)


	5. Sparrows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in this chapter! I was a little stumped on writing it but the next one should be a breeze. Enjoy!
> 
> EDIT 7/21/2018: Changes in grammar in a few places

Grii sat on the ground with her jacket in her arms and knees up against her chest. Tenta undid the bandages wrapped around her and carefully inspected her wounds, making sure to be gentle in the process. Suddenly Tenta paused, muttered something under her breath, got up, and walked over to her bag. She picked it up and sorted the contents inside, looking for something. Whatever it was, she couldn't find it. She sighed as she set the bag aside on the ground and put her hand over her mouth, thinking. Then, she had an idea. She unclicked the ink tank that rested on her back, emptied the contents onto the ground, and strapped the empty tank over Grii's back.

"What are you doing?" Grii asked with confusion spilling over her face.

"Fill this with your ink, please."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I'm helping your wounds get proper treatment by flushing out the black ink. I would've used a proper disinfectant, but I forgot to take one with me," Tenta answered.

"Can't I just change my ink color to black?"

Tenta snorted in amusement and tried to hide the smile on her face. She failed and began chuckling in return.

"You have a good sense of humor there," She giggled while covering her mouth with her hand.

"I'm serious," Grii stared at her, furrowing her brow.

Tenta's amusement quickly turned into realization and she slapped her hand to her head, likely at her own ignorance.

"Oh! Of course you don't know! Gosh, how do I explain this... Black ink that comes from Octolings has different properties ranging from causing skin irritation..."

Grii winced.

"...To skin melting poison," Tenta added.

Grii choked.

"B-but you'll be okay! You weren't hit that badly!" Tenta assured her.

Grii tilted her head. "If it wasn't that bad, then why did I pass out?"

"From shock, most likely," Tenta answered, and by her tone of voice she seemed unsure. "At least I think so, but let's not worry about it."

"Well, okay then." 

Grii shook her head then set it on top of her knees, closing her eyes. She was still quite tired and saw the sun begin to rise, wondering if Tenta had gotten any sleep overnight. She reckoned she may as well relax as she receives treatment, and once that's over Tenta could probably get rest as well.

Tenta sat down next to Grii, not too close but not too far away either. Grii figured she was trying to respect her space while waiting for the ink tank to fill up and felt grateful for that. As they sat, Tenta stretched her arms over her head and yawned, which sounded more like a squeak coming from her. Grii couldn't help but smile from how cute it sounded.

She still didn't quite know what to make of Tenta in general, though. She had rescued her, sure, but the octoling seemed a bit serious for her own taste. It was like something was eating at her from the inside and turned nervous from trying not to show it. Grii thought over how Tenta said she escaped the military and realized that was probably what troubled her.  _ But why? _ She thought.  _ She escaped, so why is she worried about it?  _

Grii opened her eyes and directed her gaze over Tenta. Something felt familiar about her, and what it was, she couldn't put her finger on it. She brushed it off immediately because there's no way they could've met before. She was an inkling and Tenta was an octoling, two different worlds that could in no way cross paths. Until now, that is.

Tenta turned her head, her goggles looking Grii in the eye.

"Is there something bothering you?" She asked.

"No, I'm fine, don't worry," Grii mumbled.

Grii did appreciate Tenta, though. She wouldn't mind having her as a friend, but this was probably the last time they'd ever meet. Even if they could meet more often, there'd still be the issue of dealing with the whole power scare and the divide between Inkopolis and Octo Valley that came from it.

Then she remembered Tenta saying something about the peace group trying to unite Inkopolis with Octo Valley. It'd be nice for them to succeed with their goal and help the domes, but traveling between the two lands seemed like wishful thinking. Even then, she doubted Tenta would even want to be her friend. She was just taking care of her, that's all. Nothing about Grii seemed to compel her in any way from what she could tell. Grii was just a temporary burden to her, something keeping her from going back to her godfather. Her heart sank.

Then, the ink tank was completely full. Tenta scooted over and unhooked it, lifting the straps out from under Grii's arms slowly. She took off the lid and held it over Grii's back.

"This may sting for a second," She warned. She stared a little bit longer at Grii's wounds and bit her lip.

Grii noticed Tenta hesitating to pour the ink over her back.

"Uh, Tenta? Is everything alright?"

"Okay, turns out I'm wrong. It's going to sting a lot."

"Wait wha- AAAAAAAHHHHH!"

The black ink that covered Grii's back flushed-out with the green ink that Tenta poured on her. As the ink came down, Grii clenched her hands into fists and tried to bear through the pain. A few gaping wounds here and there surfaced, so Tenta gently poured the remaining ink over them to try and speed up the regeneration process. The outsides of the wounds began to mend quite slowly but they were healing nonetheless. Grii sighed as the ink filled her back, finally soothing her similarly like ice on a burn instead of stinging wounds. Then, Tenta pulled out gauze and pasted it onto Grii's back, wrapped the top of her body in a new set of bandages, and helped Grii put her jacket back on.

"Your wounds are not fully healed, so you're going to have to rest here until you can move properly. Otherwise, your pain won't go away" Tenta informed her.

"Um, do you know how long I have to stay? Like, a guess?"

Tenta paused and calculated in her head.

"About two hours."

"TWO HOURS?!"

* * *

 

The two of them sat together in silence. Grii watched the sparrows in a flock pecking at the ground, hunting for their meals. Even though she didn't like birds at all, she thought it was interesting how close sparrows stuck together as a group. As she watched, one of the sparrows sat still while the others hunted. Another one came over with a worm in its mouth and set it on the ground between the two. The still sparrow examined it for a few seconds, helped itself to the worm, then chirped back at the other one in gratitude and nuzzled it lovingly.

"Grii?"

Tenta had woken up a few moments before and interjected her way into Grii's bird watching, to which Grii turned her head to look at her.

"Yes?" Grii asked, knowing full well what question was to be laid out in front of her. She didn't want to answer it, but she figured Tenta wouldn't let up. It was the reason why they were sitting next to each other in the first place, why Tenta was being delayed from going home.

"You didn't answer earlier, but why did you go inside the domes?"

Tenta's voice showed curiosity more than disgust or scolding, to Grii's relief. She still didn't want to spill the beans to Tenta, but she'd feel bad for lying to her.

Grii took a deep breath and explained how she saw Agent 3 enter the domes every day at sunset. Curiosity overwhelmed her, so she finally had mustered the will to enter the sewers that led into Octo Valley.

"Are you going to tell anyone?" She squeaked. She gripped her own tentacles as she awaited an answer from Grii, clearly concerned. Grii realized that confirming the rumors would likely hurt the relations between Inkopolis and Octo Valley and push Tenta under the bus even more, even if she just told her friends. 

Ann could probably keep a secret very well hidden, but she wasn't sure about Quinn. The joyous inkling loved to chatter and dropped several secrets to others by mistake, so who knows what could happen if she carelessly told a few others about the failed Octarian invasion. Grii's eyes met Tenta's goggles, and she decided she was going to keep it all a secret.

"I won't anyone. From what I've heard, the invasion has failed anyway and so there'd be no point in spreading rumors," Grii stated.

Grii watched Tenta sigh in relief at her words and huff out a "thank you" while scooting closer to her. The two looked on in peaceful silence again, until Grii's stomach let out a loud grumble. She didn't realize how hungry she was and couldn't remember eating prior to entering Octo Valley. Despite that, she didn't really have an appetite for anything.

She heard Tenta put her bag on her lap and opened it, sorting through the contents inside. The octoling pulled out a small baggy filled to the brim with what looked to be thick crackers and took one out. She held it out in front of Grii, gesturing her to take it.

"What is that?" Grii asked.

"It's hardtack."

"Hard what?"

"Just take it, you're hungry aren't you?"

"Yeah but, you probably need it more than I do. I mean, I don't want to force you to take care of me any more than you need to. You already used up your bandages on me."

Tenta looked down at the hardtack in her hand and looked back up to Grii. "It's fine, please eat." She insisted. "I have more than enough hardtack and I'm going home anyway. Everything was just for the overnight trip."

Grii followed Tenta's orders after muttering a "thank you" and took the hardtack from her hand and bit into it. She scrunched up at the overwhelmingly plain flavor but forced herself to finish it off. Nothing in theory could make up for the plain flavor it had, not even jelly or some other additive, and she resisted the temptation to gag as to not seem ungrateful. Then she saw Tenta help herself to more hardtack from her bag, making the same disgusted face that Grii had made when eating it. Grii felt that was a perfect opportunity for a joke.

"Wow, absolutely delicious! Gourmet flavor, just like mom used to make!" Grii remarked sarcastically. She exaggerated her gestures all over the place, making her look like she came straight out of an old-fashioned TV commercial. Tenta laughed in response, causing Grii's cheeks to grow warm for some unidentifiable reason.

"I don't like hardtack either. I mean, who would?" Tenta giggled.

"I've had my fair share of plain food in my life, but this one takes the cake. If that's all you have to eat on your travel, then I hope your godfather is an excellent cook to make up for it." Grii snickered.

"Oh, he is, trust me," Tenta smiled. "It's going to be nice to see him again since it's been so long."

Grii couldn't imagine what it'd be like to be separated from her mom for so long without any way to contact her, so she felt happy that Tenta would be reunited with her godfather again.

Tenta let out a squeak as Grii gave her a gentle pat on the back for support. When Grii pulled back her hand, her mind temporarily focused on how warm Tenta's back felt against her hand and how soft the octoling felt. She caught herself thinking about that for a little too long and forced it into the back of her mind. It was a weird thing to get caught in her head, so she decided to ignore those thoughts. What was it, anyway? Friendship? Yeah, seems like it. She thought. It didn't help that Tenta gently patted her in return afterward, but she knew there was no harm in that even if it did make her feel a little weird. Grii wasn't very fond of touch in the first place, anyway, so that could explain it.

The two of them sat again in peaceful silence while watching the sparrows chirp at each other, killing time so that Grii could heal and then they could go their separate ways. At that moment, Grii thought she heard Tenta whisper a quiet "thank you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter was quite a bit of filler but we'll have more plot related stuff in the next one, I promise. Feel free to leave feedback, and thanks for all the kudos too! I really appreciate it ♥


	6. The Peace Group

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really apologize for the huge delay with this chapter! I had a bit of writer's block as well as school keeping me busy and eating up all my energy... orz  
> Aside from that, though, please enjoy!
> 
> EDIT 7/21/2018: Modified Jin's dialogue. See end for notes. There's significantly less edits in this chapter than in 1-3

"How do you feel now?"

"Uh, hold on. Try helping me off the ground, first."

Tenta pulled Grii by the hands and helped her up to her feet. Once Grii got off the ground, her legs wobbled slightly as she tried to gain control of them, but then she was able to stand with ease. She stretched here and there to loosen up her joints after sitting so long, then gave Tenta a pleased look once she realized the pain was gone. She walked around in a circle for confirmation, then bubbled happily in place.

"Welp, I'm finally healed!" Grii smiled wide. "I can move around just fine now, I think."

"Good, I'm glad," Tenta smiled.

"Thanks again for everything, even though getting injured was my fault in the first place," Grii chuckled. Tenta's mouth twitched a little as she smiled, but she didn't comment much on Grii's jab at herself.

"You're welcome, but try not to get yourself into any more trouble," Tenta warned. "Not many people in Octo Valley are likely to rescue an inkling from danger, except for maybe the peace group. But even then there's still a lack of functioning respawn pads AND there's a slim chance of encountering one of us so... Try not to come back into the domes."

Grii's smile faltered, but she knew Tenta said that for good reason. She wouldn't want to throw herself into any more danger at all, so she just nodded back at her in response. However, something about the Peace Group seemed alluring to Grii, and she'd thought it'd be interesting to check it out. But the domes were dangerous, so she couldn't just waltz on in like nothing.  _ Speaking of the domes being dangerous, what if Tenta got into trouble herself? Would anyone be able to help her?  _ She thought.

"Are... You going to be alone then?" Grii asked, concerned.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, because... I feel like you should have someone to help watch your back. I mean, you never know if someone might sneak up on you, if that's a thing."

Tenta tilted her head in confusion and stared back at Grii.

"What do you really want, Grii?"

Grii paused. What did she mean by that? It's obvious what Grii wanted, but she figured she should be clearer anyway.

"I want to escort you through the domes so you're not alone," She responded. "And I'd also like to check out the Peace Group."

"No."

"What?"

"I said no," Tenta crossed her arms. "It's dangerous and you don't have a weapon."

"You don't either!"

"I don't, but I know how to dodge and evade enemy fire."

"Yeah well, I do a lot of ranked and ink sports so I have a lot of skill in avoiding shots too!" Grii insisted.

"Ranked and... What?"

"You. You don't know what ink sports are..?"

"It doesn't matter, considering the fact that you couldn't avoid Val's shots is evidence that your training isn't enough," Tenta inquired firmly. Grii opened her mouth to object but Tenta interrupted her.

"I know you're concerned about me going alone, I appreciate that, but I can handle it just fine. Please, there's nothing to worry about." Tenta turned her head and looked away from Grii. "And as far as the peace group goes, I'm not sure if bringing you to attend a meeting would be acceptable."

"I just want to make it up to you and repay the favor. I don't want to take advantage of you helping me without doing anything in return, Tenta." Grii stepped forward to get her attention and caught glimpse of her goggles. "I'd be fine with not attending the meeting, I just want to make sure you arrive safely."

They stood in front of each other in silence. Grii stared at Tenta firmly, and her eyes met the octoling's goggles. Tenta stared back at her in confusion, with a hint of shock mixed in.

"Please," Grii insisted.

More silence met the two of them. Tenta looked side to side pondering, then shot Grii another look. Grii's stance stayed firm and unmoving despite Tenta's curious glances. She perked up her head in a stubborn demeanor, too. Suddenly, Tenta sighed deeply and shook her head, but her cheeks perked up in a way that made it seem like she was smiling.

"Alright fine, you can escort me,"  She stated. "But you're going to have to be careful, alright?"

"Yeah, got it," Grii responded. "Where is the Peace Group, anyway?"

Tenta gestured Grii to follow her, and the two of them walked across the land of Octo Valley and stopped at an area that was packed dense with trees and bushes. Tenta stepped forward and forced her way through the dense vegetation, Grii following her from behind though struggling with moving through the bushes. Grii felt herself stop abruptly as Tenta stuck her arm out to keep the inkling from bumping into her. She gestured for Grii to stay where she was and walked over to a thick leaf pile.

She bent down and grabbed hold of the leaves and tossed them aside in bunches, slowly revealing a silver glint in the ground. The leaves cleared up revealing a kettle that was fused straight into the dirt, lined with vines that covered the top and stretched out across the ground. The kettle itself was considerably rickety and old looking, with a few rust stains here and there.

Grii raised her eyebrows in curiosity, waiting for Tenta to provide an explanation. There was none given. Instead, Tenta was occupied by snapping vines out of the way to clear the area. Grii cleared her throat to try to catch Tenta's attention, but she didn't respond. Grii fake coughed. Still no response.

"Why is this kettle covered in plants?" Grii finally asked, figuring to be more direct.

Tenta stopped tearing the vines for a brief moment, then continued on. She kept her back to Grii as she explained.

"It was done on purpose, to keep the Agents out." She replied bluntly.

Grii waited for her to elaborate further but was met with further silence. She watched Tenta pull the vines apart until the kettle was freed. Tenta tossed the broken vines aside neatly, stepped back, and met Grii's gaze.

"Alright, are you ready to go?" She asked.

Grii nodded.

She watched Tenta switch forms and dive into the kettle. It screeched loudly and let out steam that spread through the ground in droves, and shook as Tenta made her way inside. Once it stopped shaking, Grii jumped in shortly after and heard the kettle let out a squeak as she slipped inside.

* * *

 

Cracks of natural light seeped into the dome from the dents and gashes that made its way through the walls, providing energy to the plants and bushes that covered the grassy floor of the floating land. The area was considerably better-off in comparison to the other domes, with showers of fountains that hung off the walls and watered the vines that started from the abyss of the dome all the way to the ceiling.

On the central platform, marble statues of various octarians stood tall along a path that led to an old building, with each statue holding a flag that bore a symbol resembling a squid, an octopus, and a peace symbol.

Grii tagged along behind Tenta, following her along the path and inspected each statue as they walked past. Her eyes darted back and forth between each one as she noticed how different each octarian had looked from each other. Some of them bore fierce, bold expressions while others held kind, gentle ones. Others were relatively small and resembled tentacle segments with faces, while others were octolings like Tenta, though taller and… Seemingly much older?

“Who are these statues of?” Grii asked, who couldn’t help the curiosity in her voice.

“Previous leaders of the Peace Group. These statues were typically put up after their passing.” Tenta explained.

Grii let out an acknowledging hum as her gaze shifted from the statues over to Tenta, who looked much smaller proportion wise. Even her tentacles seemed smaller than the others, especially in comparison to the rest of the octolings in Tenta’s squad, except for maybe one or two others.

“So, how old are you?”

Tenta looked over her shoulder and at Grii.

“That’s a random question.”

“Well I mean, you seem uh, younger than a lot of these other octolings, is what I’m saying.”

“How old do you think I am, then?”

Grii scratched her head.

“Judging from how you act, I thought you were around maybe sixteen or seventeen at the very youngest, but now… I don’t know.”

“I’m actually fourteen.”

“What. I’m.. What?! What the heck I’m fifteen! What?! How are you fourteen?!”

Tenta shrugged and continued forward on. “To be honest, I would have been surprised if you were younger,” she chuckled.

“Haha, yeah, I guess it would be weird, considering like how small you are compared to every other octoling I’ve seen so far,” Grii commented while tailing behind Tenta.

“U-um, well that doesn’t really have much to do with age…” Tenta shifted uncomfortably as she kept walking forward, turning her head in directions that didn’t contain anything worth mentioning.

“No? What about tentacle length, then? For inklings, that tends to be an indicator of age and-”

“P-please stop!”

Grii closed her mouth and stopped abruptly, wide-eyed at Tenta’s sudden change of mood. The octoling now faced her, shaking anxiously with clenched fists.

“Sorry for shouting but… I don’t want to talk about this subject any further,” She took a deep breath and her shaking lessened, but her fists remained tight. “I don’t know how to explain it but…”

“O-oh, no, it’s okay. I’m sorry,” Grii squeaked. She lowered her head apologetically, feeling guilty for causing Tenta’s outburst. She wasn’t sure which part of what she said affected the octoling, but she still felt entirely to blame for it.

Tenta dipped her head in acknowledgment and suggested they kept moving without dwelling on the situation. Grii continued to follow her and the two of them finally arrived at an old, marble-looking building that resembled something of a hybrid between a large house and a courtroom. The building looked hastily put together and seemed to barely hold itself in one piece, with the roof and doors being made from an unrefined wood.

"Is this it?" Grii asked.

Tenta nodded, then stepped in front of the door of the building and turned to face Grii.

"You should wait out here, I'll need time to... Catch up with everyone."

"Alright."

Tenta turned the handle of the door and stepped into the building.

Grii stood rocking in place. A few minutes passed and she sat down, looking at the area around her, incredibly bored. As she sat, a white bird flew down and landed next to her and pecked at the ground. She stared at it, and after awhile, the bird looked back up at her with a vacant stare.

“So,” she decided to humor it, “what’s it like being a bird?”

The bird continued to stare at her, albeit in the most irritated way a bird could muster.

Tenta softly closed the door behind her, trying not to make a sound with the creaks of the hinges. In front of her was the familiar sight of octarians in large groups, sitting and standing on the floor below, in front of a podium. Octosnipers, octoballs, troopers, stamps, and bombers alike made up the crowd, with exception of octolings.

The majority of these Octarians were either old, disabled in some way, war veterans, or too young to enter battle. None of them paid Tenta any mind, or so much as even turned their heads to look at her, and she figured it was because they didn’t hear her.

The octarians instead fine tuned their ears to the person who stood tall behind the podium, speaking into the microphone that broadcasted his speech throughout the entire building and reverberated through the halls and windows. His voice boomed with passion, yet held a lingering sense of gentleness and thoughtfulness behind his words. He stood up there focused in his words, almost tuning out the world outside. Tenta smiled, because she knew him so well that he’d not direct his attention to anything else other than the crowd that stood in front of him.

A bird could fly through the window and perch itself on his hat and he would not notice, she could sneak behind him with other young octarians and smack a pie to his face like they did on his 50th birthday years ago, or she could simply call his name and he’d ask her not to interrupt him in the middle of his speech because he’d otherwise lose his train of thought.

Instead, she waited. It’s been awhile since she last heard him speak in a meeting, almost too long. Tenta rested her back against the wall and listened to what he had to say, which was this:

“Now, everyone,” he cleared his throat. “We mustn't give up hope, things are looking up for us now despite the condition of the domes. We are making strides in educating our own about Octavio’s propaganda and furthering our chances of escorting everyone to the surface.”

He paused and took a look around. Murmurs of excitement rumbled through the crowd, including talk over how they would survive in the heart of the city. The speaker resumed his speech once the side discussions died down.

“Now, in order to have a clear way of immigrating into Inkopolis, we must inform the city of our current dilemma: our power source being scarce. We know the military is against our purpose and wish to wage war instead, the reason why being Octavio’s attitude of inklings. But we can see that this attitude can not be held any longer as our citizens are now suffering due to this.”

A random octosniper in the crowd stood up and raised his tentacle.

“But what about those of us who don’t want to move into Inkopolis? I mean, if we move in, it might be hard for us to adjust to the city life.”

The speaker nodded thoughtfully.

“That’s a good question. Inkopolis would be a change of pace for all of us, I won’t deny that.” He adjusted his hat to keep it straight, as it tilted over his eyes slightly which always annoyed him but he never complained about it. “A new culture and a large city would be difficult to adjust to. Hopefully, we can come up with an alternative for Octarians that may have difficulty adjusting. But for now, it’ll be simpler to stick with our initial plan.”

The octosniper sat down reluctantly but not before muttering a begrudged “thank you.”

Tenta rolled her eyes at the octosniper’s attitude and tried turning her attention back to the speaker, but quickly found her attention caught by a younger octotrooper who sat by him. The trooper and Tenta made eye contact with each other for a moment until she waved at him, which caused his eyes to turn to the size of saucers and nudge the speaker.

“What is it, Pippin?” his voice rang over the intercom. “Please, do not interrupt me, we’re in a meeting.”

Tenta couldn’t hear what the trooper was saying, but he hopped around frantically and gestured at her with his tentacle.

“Pippin, I can’t understand you when you’re talking frantically like that.”

“Jin,” Tenta spoke. Everyone in the crowd turned to look at her.

“Tenta, excuse me, but I’m trying to figure out what Pippin is sayi-”

He stopped talking mid-sentence once he realized it was his goddaughter who stood from him on the other side of the room.  The octobomber stumbled in and out of shock and ecstaticism, with his mouth opening in closing as he couldn’t decide on what he could say. With that, happiness was the unforeseen winner of the internal battle.

Jin activated the propeller on his hat, thus lifting him off the ground and allowing him to glide to the other side of the room where Tenta stood. He landed softly on the ground in front of her and pulled her into a tight hug. Tenta squeezed back and felt familiar warmth wash all over her. She was finally home and back with her godfather who she missed so dearly.

“Tenta, I’m so glad you’re finally back… What were they thinking, assigning a child to military duty?! Are you okay at all? Any injuries?”

“N-no, I’m just fine,” She smiled at him. “I’ve missed you so much, Jin.”

“I’ve missed you, too.” Jin spoke softly.

Tenta stepped back and glanced at the door behind them, and looked back over to him.

“Is the meeting still in session?” She asked.

“Well, um, yes,” he looked back over to the crowd of octarians, who were noticeably tearing up over Jin and Tenta’s reunion, and gave them a look that tried to communicate apologeticism for no real reason that could be thought of. “Why do you ask?”

“I brought someone with me, she said she’s interested in attending a peace group meeting.”

“That’s great to hear,” he smiled, “The more octarians we have attending, the better! Where is she?”

“Well she’s not exactly an octarian Jin,” she corrected him but hesitated to explain any further.

“Then is she..?”

“She’s-”

Suddenly the doors burst open and a flash of green shot in from outside the building and landed onto the floor screeching. A bird pecked frantically at the green inkling on the floor who batted at it and screeched each time the bird landed a nip on her tentacles.

“AAAHHHHHH!!! IT’S TRYING TO EAT ME!”

Tenta buried her face into her hands out of secondhand embarrassment and stepped back, seemingly distancing herself from Grii. Jin looked at her in disbelief and back to the inkling who continued to writhe on the ground.

“Amie,” Jin called to the bird and raised his arm out. The bird turned its head toward him and launched off of Grii’s body and flew through the air, delicately perching itself on Jin’s arm and  cooing to him softly, gently nuzzling its cheeks against his arm. Grii snapped her head back from the fetal position she previously lied in from the ground and squinted distrustfully at the bird who wronged her.

“Devil bird! That is a devil bird!”

“Grii,” Tenta chided through gritted teeth.

Grii then realized that everyone in the room was now watching her with concerned murmurs, seemingly uncomfortable by her presence in the area. Tenta walked to where she sat and offered her hand to Grii, helping her off the ground.

“So, Grii, was it?” Jin commented awkwardly trying to engage the inkling who suddenly charged into his establishment. He gently patted his bird, named Amie, and held out his other arm for a handshake. “I hear from Tenta that you’re interested in attending our meeting, correct?”

Grii grasped at his arm awkwardly, seeing as he had no fingers or a hand really since his appendages were nothing more than tentacles, and shook it as awkwardly as she grasped it.

“Y-yeah, that’s right!” Grii responded with her cheeks growing red from delayed embarrassment.

Jin nodded slowly and shot Tenta a somewhat suspicious look.

“Well, before we carry on with the meeting, I have something very important to ask the two of you,” he started.

His expression turned anxious as he absentmindedly adjusted his hat despite it already being straight and looked back and forth between the two younglings.

“How, exactly, did you meet?”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for this chapter! Sorry for the semi-abrupt ending, this chapter was getting a little long and I figured there's no use in trying to cram in as much as possible here. Feel free to leave feedback!
> 
> Changes:  
> \- Octarians are now weary of Inkopolis due to cultural differences and propaganda put out by Octavio based off of the Sunken Scroll entries (Paradise Lost and Scroll 11 in splatoon 1) - This is closer to in-game canon


	7. Find Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, exactly one month since the last update! OTL It's been a long month with a lot of projects due (and projects I still have to do) but it's better than never updating again! This was a bit of a difficult chapter to write at first but it go easier within these past few days. Thanks again for all the kudos and comments, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
> 
> EDIT 7/21/2018: Changes in description

It was, seemingly, a simple question to ask the two of them. “How did you meet?” otherwise would have been relatively easy to answer had Tenta just been another inkling in Inkopolis, but this wasn't the case.   
  
Despite the question being directed at both of them, she knew that the question was meant for Tenta rather than herself. She looked to the octoling for an answer as she stared back at her through her goggles, giving Grii an expression she couldn’t read.   
  
Tenta breathed in.   
  
“I rescued Grii in the middle of a crossfire between Val, our commander, and Agent 3. Grii was attacked by Val and got hit with black ink which heavily injured her, so I moved her to safety until she was healed,” She explained.   
  
Grii heard shocked whispers coming from the crowd of octarians behind them and could barely make out words such as “black ink”, “horrid”, and “poor thing.” Along with that, she noticed the expression on Jin’s face turn to disgust at the mention of black ink and saw him nod slowly in understanding at Tenta’s words.     
  
“And, in order to properly treat her, I escaped the military. Escaping was my plan from the beginning but Grii happened to get caught in the middle of it,” She continued.   
  
“So they didn’t let you go?” He asked, seemingly more anxious than he was previously.   
  
“No,” she shook her head, “but you understand why I escaped, right?”   
  
“I do, but, excuse me,” he turned back to the crowd behind him and called out, “I’m sorry everyone, I’m going to have to bring this meeting to a close. You are dismissed.”   
  
“Wait, what about allowing me to attend?” Grii interjected.   
  
“I would love to, but the circumstance has changed into urgent matters,” he explained. “Tenta, Grii, would the two of you please follow me to my office?”   
  
As Grii and Tenta followed Jin, the crowd of octarians dispersed with some exiting the building while others stayed behind. The three entered the office and Grii took notice of the interior.   
  
The office consisted of shelves and desks with a variety of knick knacks on them, one of these items being a radio. Others were photographs in picture frames that either lay on the desk, the floor, or hung up on the wall.   
  
The room spoke of organized chaos with the ways that papers were stacked in certain areas and how random items seemed to be in places that belonged albeit stacked messily.   
  
“You said you escaped the military?” Jin asked.   
  
Tenta nodded.   
  
“Tenta, that was very brave of you, especially when it came to saving this inkling here. However, you’re likely in more trouble than you realize,” he took a deep breath. “The military could be attempting to track you down any minute, and with that, I assume they’d more than just force you back into the complex. I hate to say this, but I don’t think we could keep you hidden here. This is the first place they’d scrounge up and they know we would hide you here.”   
  
Grii’s heart sank from the weight of sympathy she felt, and it sunk deeper when she saw Tenta shaking with her mouth quivering. The octoling breathed in hard to try to keep herself composed.   
  
“Jin, I-I don’t know what to do… I can’t go back, I just can’t! I can’t stand having to stay where I’m treated like dirt a-and be terrorized by Val,” she shook her head vigorously, “I can’t stand being forced to fight and Val just makes the whole situation even worse! Please, I don’t know where I can stay.”   
  
“She can stay with me.”   
  
Tenta and Jin’s attention was directed to Grii who stood firm in place. They looked at her, stunned, until Jin could muster out a “what?”   
  
“It won’t be difficult for me to hide her,” Grii continued. “I mean, the military would search Octo Valley, but there’s no way they could search Inkopolis without getting into trouble.”   
  
“What if you two got caught?” Jin questioned with doubt in his voice.   
  
“We won’t. Hiding her in my house won’t be hard since I live in a quiet neighborhood far away from the heart of the city. All I’d have to do to bring her with me is hide her in a bag and carry her on the train ride. Trust me, I’ve done something like this before.”  _ Except that was with a sea slug, _ she thought to herself.   
  
“There’s no telling how long she’d have to stay with you or what the consequences would be if anyone were to find out that she’s hiding with you,” Jin pointed out. “I’m incredibly grateful for you helping us, but are you sure you can pull this off?”   
  
Grii nodded. “I’m sure I can, and besides, she saved my life. I need to return the favor.”   
  
Grii turned her head and smiled at Tenta, attempting to cheer up the octoling who only gave a weak smile in return, likely still shaken by fear.   
  
“Very well,” Jin responded, “Thank you very much, I don’t know how we’d ever be able to repay you. This is a very big responsibility for you to undertake, young inkling. So long as you stay careful, Tenta will be able to seek refuge with little to no difficulty.” He set Amie onto his desk, the bird perked its head up in anticipation.   
  
“Using my messenger bird here, I’ll send Tenta a letter letting her know when it’s safe for her to come home. Not only that, but I’ll also be using them to check in with her on the status of her health and safety.” He looked from Grii to Tenta as he spoke, catching their eyes to see if they followed his words.   
  
“Alright, Jin,” Tenta nodded. “But there’s one more thing I’ll need before I leave," She glanced at Grii quickly and back to Jin with a sheepish look in her eyes.   
  
“I’m going to need… medicine,” She hesitated.   
  
“The what?” Jin questioned.   
  
“The. Medicine.”   
  
“I don’t follow.”   
  
Tenta sighed out of exasperation and stepped towards him, whispering something in his ear and his eyes widening in understanding.   
  
“OH! Oh, the medicine. Right, yes.”   
  
Jin turned around and fumbled through the shelves throughout the room, pulling out a bottle of pills, then stuffing them in a bag. Grii tilted her head in curiosity, but she figured the medicine was really none of her business. Jin handed the bag to Tenta and she put it in her own carrying case.   
  
"I'm sorry you can't stay long enough to attend a meeting," Jin turned to Grii. "We would have loved to have you, but considering the circumstances, it's not possible.."   
  
"It's okay, we can just-"   
  
A sudden slam echoed from the halls of the other room and through the entire building, creating a hushing silence across the interior that barely lasted before a loud cry sliced through the air.   
  
"This is the Octarian Militia! Everyone square up and show yourselves immediately!"   
  
Despite being muffled, the voice screeched loudly, the harsh nature of it could cause walls to crack and plants to wilt out of dread.   
  
Everyone in the office stood dead still and motionless, not a word was spoken between any of them. Grii recognized the voice, it was the octoling from earlier, the one who tried to kill her out of sport.   
  
Val.   
  
Grii could hear her heart beating in her ears as she stood with fear gripping at her insides. Her eyes caught Jin desperately motioning for her and Tenta to follow him, the two obliged and he lead them to a shelf. He put a firm grip on it, and, as silently as he could, pulled it away from the wall, revealing an old wooden door that looked like it went untouched for years.   
  
"This is the hidden exit," he whispered, "it leads to a path outside the building that will let you exit this dome. You need to hurry before she catches you."   
  
"What about you?" Tenta whispered, "If she finds out I was ever here she'll-"   
  
"Don't worry about me, you have yourselves to worry about," He told her. "I'll be fine."   
  
He pulled her into a hug and patted her back. She squeezed back tighter, albeit in pain and sorrow. Once they let go, Jin turned to Grii.   
  
"Please keep her safe," he reminded her.   
  
"I will."   
  
The door shut behind the inkling and octoling, prompting Jin to lock it behind them. He took a deep breath, shook his head, and faced the office door, floating hesitantly over to it. He placed a firm, shaky grip over the handle and opened it slowly, unsure what to expect once he enters the large hall of the building.   
  
He floated forward, and his eyes met a lineup of octolings in varying sizes standing in unison with one another. Smaller octolings stood toward the ends while the taller, stronger ones stayed toward the front.   
  
The remaining octarians from the peace group stood away from the octolings, visibly uncomfortable and frightened, and they looked to Jin for reassurance.   
  
Jin landed on the ground as firm as the expression on his face, and his eyes made contact with the leader of the octoling group who stood in the middle. Her violet, violent eyes pierced through the air as she stood tall with her nose pointed upward and her arms behind her back.   
  
She looked down both literally and metaphorically at the peacekeeper in front of her, and, somehow, she looked more intimidating without the goggles covering her eyes and instead rested around her neck. She glared at Jin with swords for eyes, but his own eyes were shielded against her swings.   
  
“What,” he spat out, “is your business here?”   
  
She grinned at him in a way that made his skin crawl with hatred, ticks of disgust and contempt bit at him to verbally tear her apart, yet he had to stand still and resist the urge to give in to the scratch.   
  
“That’s a funny joke,” Val taunted. “Playing stupid is a classic, but it gets old quickly.”   
  
“I’m not playing.”   
  
“Oh, so you are stupid? I’m not surprised, it’s quite common with your kind.”   
  
“Just tell me your business and leave.”   
  
“Fine, let me speak the obvious,” she slammed her foot to the ground, drawing the attention and intimidation of all nearby octarians around her. She leaned to Jin’s face, eyes barely an inch away from his.   
  
“You’re harboring the runt here again,” she hissed. “She escaped the military and you’re hiding her here.”   
  
“No, I’m not. She hasn’t stopped by.”   
  
“You expect me to believe that? Haven’t you heard of the saying: fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice… Uh..”   
  
“Shame on me,” one of the tall octolings whispered to her.   
  
“I didn’t ask, snake-face!” She barked.   
  
Jin had to suppress the urge to roll his eyes.   
  
“What I’m saying is,” Val continued, “I’m not leaving here without the traitor, do you understand? I’ll search this god forsaken building if I have to.”   
  
“Go ahead.”   
  
“What?!”   
  
“I said go ahead. I have nothing to hide.”   
  
She glared at him.   
  
“Fine, I will.”   
  
She turned to the octolings behind her and pointed at each and every one of them.   
  
“You, all of you, search every last part of this building. Upstairs, downstairs, closets, you name it. I’ll look in the office.” She jerked her head to Jin again and got in his face.   
  
“As for you,” she grumbled, “Stay. here.”   
  
Val and the other octolings scrambled off to different parts of the building, clearing away the main room and the octarians dispersed into the upstairs bunkers while still visibly shaken. However, Jin found he wasn’t the only one left in the room.   
  
In front of him stood a tall octoling who didn’t fit the room in terms of placement, and he felt weary around this one especially. He figured they were at least a right-hand to Val, and wondered what contributions they made to the endless abuse that his goddaughter had to endure under Val’s rule. But to his surprise, this octoling approached him rather meekly.   
  
“May I help you?” He asked, unsure what to think.   
  
“You’re… not hiding Tenta here?”   
  
He shook his head, surprised they even knew his goddaughter’s name.   
  
“Then where is she?!” The octoling practically yelled. They realized that their yelling could draw attention to the two of them, so they covered their mouth ever so slightly from their mistake.   
  
“Sorry,” they corrected themself, “if she’s not here, then where could she be?”   
  
He squinted.   
  
“I don’t know.”   
  
“I know yer lying, and for good reason, but please, I’m her friend, her mentor. I kept her safe against Val and taught her how to defend herself.”   
  
Jin’s expression softened as he took note of the concern in their voice, but even so, if he told the truth his cover would be blown. It’s a risk he wouldn’t take, even if this octoling really was who they said they were.   
  
“My name is Marin, she must have at least told you about me, has she?” They asked.   
  
He shook his head.   
  
“I’m sorry, but she hasn’t come here,” he pressed on. “Even if she did, I’d have to turn her away and there wouldn’t have been much time for a chat anyway.”   
  
The corner of Marin’s mouth twitched and her eyes darted away.   
  
“So you wouldn’t have even tried to help her? Aren’t you her godfather or something?”   
  
“Listen, young one,” he began, offended. “As much as I would have wanted to keep her safe, if it didn’t work the first time it wouldn’t work the second.”   
  
“The first time?” They asked.   
  
He took in a breath.   
  
“You’re aware of drafting, right? I’m sure you are since you’re also an octoling, but to make a long story short, we tried to hide her here to avoid the military. Val was ordered to search here, thus how Tenta ended up in your squad.”   
  
“And, there’s no way Val would fall for hiding here a second time…” Marin concluded.   
  
He nodded in response.   
  
They thought long and hard for several moments then turned back to Jin, dipping their head in acknowledgment.   
  
“I understand, thanks for telling me as much as you can.”   
  
“You’re welcome,” he mumbled, partially guilty for withholding the truth from Marin, but it’s for Tenta’s safety he reminded himself.   
  
“But,” they added, “I have a feeling that… Oh.. no.”   
  
“Wh-what?”   
  
Marin leaned in close to him and scanned the room for anyone who may be listening in on them.   
  
“Before she escaped, Tenta rescued an inkling kid who -for god knows why or how- snuck down into the domes. Knowing her, she prolly tended to the inkling’s injuries and tried returning them to the surface.”   
  
Jin had to act surprised and wondered if Marin could see through his facade.   
  
“That’s uh, brave of her,” he responded.   
  
“Brave, yeah, but stupid too. If she hasn’t arrived here yet, that means the inkling must’ve reported her to the inkling authorities, like Agent 3 and Cap’ N Cuttlefish, or whoever the hell else.”   
  
“W-well maybe Tenta dropped her off and left…”   
  
“Maybe,” Marin growled, “Or, I have a certain agency to speak with, and, an inkling to track down.”   
  
“Uh, that doesn’t seem realistic-”   
  
“Listen, if there’s anything I’m not, it’s a realist.” They explained. “I’ll make sure Tenta’s safe, for REAL this time.”   
  
Jin felt sweat break down his forehead. It’s obvious that he can’t lie about this any further without getting an otherwise innocent party into trouble. As he took in a breath to speak, the door to his office slammed open and Val came into the room. Her boots pounded against the floor as she walked and her eye twitched with rage.   
  
“WHY are you talking to him?!” She growled at Marin.   
  
“It beats chatting with an enraged amoeba,” Marin replied. They snorted irritatedly and walked away, winking at Jin and exiting the building without a care for Val’s barrage of profanities.   
  
“W-wait,” Jin called. He went to follow Marin but quickly found himself cut off by Val’s arm which blocked the door.   
  
“Well well, turns out you were telling the truth,” Val’s eye twitched again, possibly recovering from the burn. “Consider the brat lucky, that is if her little inkling friend didn’t betray her.” She cackled and removed her hand from the door, calling her octoling squad who lined up behind her. Jin felt disgust boil in his stomach, which fueled the fire burning in his glare which pierced Val's eyes. He hoped it’d at least send a shiver down her spine, but she didn’t even flinch.   
  
“See you, degenerate.” She called, and promptly exited the building with her squad, closing the front door with an inconsiderate slam.   
  
Jin stood still, alone within the hallway. It was too late to clear up the situation with Marin, so he just hoped that they wouldn’t stay true to their word of tracking down Grii and the Agents.   
  
He shook his head once he realized he was more worried about how Tenta would fare hiding in Inkopolis with a kid inkling, and he covered his face with his hands once he realized that it was incredibly dangerous to put two kids through a situation like that.   
  
As far as he knew, it was his only option. No place in Octo Valley was safe for Tenta, so perhaps Inkopolis would be safer. Maybe, just maybe, if Tenta stays with Grii long enough, then there’ll be enough time for the military to let go of its grips on Octarian citizens.   
  
As much as he didn’t like to admit it, he doubted that. However, it gave him an even stronger incentive to work harder, for his goddaughter’s sake. He took a deep breath, floated to his office, and opened the door.   
  
He ignored the mess lying about from Val’s raid and was relieved to find his radio system still intact, just as he left it on the bookshelf. He let out a huff as he lifted it off of the shelf, scrambled to place it on his desk without dropping it, and brushed off the dust on the receiver.   
  
Hopefully, he isn’t too far behind on the radio schedule, he thought to himself. He’s only had time to answer people’s letters, not so much radio broadcasting lately, but he figured it’d help lessen the gap the Peace Group and other octarians. So long as his listeners still tuned into his channel, he’d be able to contact the surface directly.   
  
Amie peeked her head out from the corner of the room and landed herself on top of Jin’s desk. She pushed a picture frame closer to him and chirped sweetly. He smiled, scritched the top of her head, and picked up the familiar photo while dusting it off, clearly displaying the picture that lay secure in the frame.   
  
It showed an adult octoling wearing a suit while standing confidently and smiling warmly. His eyes were a sapphire color and his back tentacles were short and styled with a proper look. Next to him stood a small twintacle octarian with seafoam green eyes, who had her arms wrapped around his hand and smiled as warmly as he did. In the octoling’s other arm, he held a small octoling child who rested her head against his chest, asleep.   
  
Jin set the picture frame down on his desk next to his radio and adjusted it so that he could get a clear view of it from where he sat.   
  
“Don’t worry, Ameida, Penti. Your daughter will be safe,” he promised. “I’ll make sure of it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Changes:  
> \- Jin is now looking to get in contact with other octarians instead of Inkopolis


	8. Cold Air

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy was that a long time to get this chapter written. It was mostly done until I got the flu so that was fun. Also it's 5:50 AM as I'm typing this and I haven't slept so. Yeehaw. Also, keeping that in mind there's also probably a few errors here in there and some lackluster writing. Ao3 also published it when I didnt mean to so there's that.
> 
> 7/21/2018: No changes here!

Not a moment held stiller than the blackness of night, the emptiness of the dark, and the desire of sleep bringing down silence upon the city; with the roads cleared out and the lights of buildings shut off, not a thing stirred except the few crows who decided to take their usual nightly stroll.  
  
They beck and called to each other back and forth, scraping the ground for food or leftover trash left on the ground by city residents.  
  
Skyscrapers stretched into the night sky, blocking any other source of light that came from the stars and instead caused the city to rely on illumination from the streetlights to light the paths of the roads. Few cars passed by here and there, but they came one by one through periods of time.  
  
Despite all these circumstances, one thing disturbed the peace and commonality: the echoes of footprints of a lone inkling on the sidewalk, dragging their feet slowly across the concrete with their spirits as low as their head.  
  
They breathed in deeply, in and out, in an erratic cycle disturbed by pain in their ribs. Their face was numb, and their blue eyes were as dull as a blade worn down from years and years of vigorous use. Heavy clothing covered their whole body and fit snugly around them to protect them against the cold winter air.  
  
A scarf, gloves with their hands tucked into their pockets, ear muffs, and heavy boots were their clothing of choice, atypical of their usual agent gear. As warmly as they were dressed, they could not prevent the redness of their face and the shivering of their spine caused by the lump that secured itself into their throat.  
  
Agent 3, as they were called, walked along the road. Their ears twitched in irritation, shame, and discomfort over their own failure.  
  
Losing to Val, they scoffed, biting their lips in anger as their fists clenched into balls, feeling the tides of rage wash over them. It was pathetic. They let their guard down, and the outcome of the battle was the price they paid.  
  
They shook their head despite the pain that came with it. Agent 3 couldn’t find the words to describe how badly they wanted to tear Val apart, but they knew that one of these days, they’ll put an end to her reign of terror.  
  
But first, they thought, they need to find that inkling who followed them into the domes, who knows what could have happened to her. It certainly won’t be easy considering that they don’t even know her name, but they felt it was imperative. Otherwise, they’d be directly responsible for the disappearance of a kid who was too curious for her own sake.  
  
They thought over the scramble again and memory vividly came into place of one of the younger octolings grabbing hold of the inkling, carrying her off someplace they couldn’t determine due to having the tar beaten out of them in that moment.  
  
Interrogation seemed like a likely fit, maybe that octoling took her to one of her leaders for questioning about the inner workings of Inkopolis. But, kidnapping a civilian for that seemed like a lost cause because not even Agent 3 knew how Inkopolis’ powerlines worked before they became an agent, so they crossed out that possibility from the list; octarians were too smart to make a mistake like that.  
  
What if that octoling rescued her instead? Did that seem likely at all? Agent 3 thought this possibility over. They learned firsthand that octarians only felt fear and anger, there’s no room for compassion in their minds nor would one ever feel compassion for an inkling.  
  
What use would rescuing an inkling have for that octoling? Nothing, absolutely nothing at all. Those octarians attacked the agent all the time, so why would this be any different? Val perfectly demonstrated evidence for this and it was absolutely pathetic how animalistic she became in one snap.  
  
Perhaps the octoling that kidnapped the inkling was the same octoling they saw posters of strewn across Octovalley, posters that detailed her escape from the military. Or was it a different octoling? They couldn’t tell. This situation was confusing at best and unsolvable at worst. If they had finished their scramble with Val quick enough, they would’ve been able to stop that octoling from kidnapping the inkling.  
  
But they weren’t fast enough and there was nothing they could do about that except hiss in anger.  
  
Agent 3 continued to trudge along the sidewalk with their thoughts leading them nowhere. They figured it was best to ask Cap’n Cuttlefish what he thought about the situation and take the next steps necessary to find the missing inkling. Hopefully, she’d turn up. Otherwise, Agent 3 has more things on their agenda they didn’t bargain for; finding the inkling, finding out who the rogue octoling is, and defeating Val.  
  
They hoped they won’t be too late.  
  
Artificial light filled in the absence of sunlight which no longer peeked through the cracks of the walls, leaving the LED screens with images of constellations as the only light source for the dome. The area was silent with exception of the flow of water that continued down the walls and splashed against the leaves on the plants as droplets, which tapped harmoniously in sync with one another throughout each cycle.  
  
Structures in the distance could barely be made out due to the weak lighting not reaching far enough. The buildings appeared as formless black blocks with little to no definition which gave it the appearance of something undefinable, ominous, mysterious, and unknown; not too different from how they looked under bright lighting but still troubling nonetheless.  
  
The domes, even the best-looking ones, were still mysterious, especially with ruins that littered the environment. Grii was still unnerved by the appearance of it all, how ultimately artificial it was and how suffocating it felt. It contrasted against the comfortable life on the surface that she knew; the fresh breath of air every day, the warmth of the sun that shined down on her, and flora that covered the earth in every step she took.  
  
Normally, she didn’t care about any of that, but since having a taste of environments where all those things are far few and between, it was a luxury. Living in a place like this was unimaginable in her eyes, especially after the lack of breath she had of Inkopolis since her consciousness came back to her. To her relief, she was going home.  
  
Though, she was going to have to take someone with her.  
  
“I don’t know how well this is going to work, Grii,” Tenta mumbled.  
  
They stood gathered outside the transportation port between the dome and the surface, stopped by the conflict between their plan and execution of said plan.  
  
“How well what part is going to work?” Grii questioned.  
  
“I mean, this whole plan I suppose. Hiding me in a bag, I just, it’s-”  
  
“It’ll work, trust me.”  
  
“That’s not the only problem I’m worried about, it’s you hiding me in your house in general.”  
  
“I’ll figure something out, It’ll be fine,” Grii assured her.  
  
Tenta pressed her lips together in frustration and shook her head, ultimately giving up in trying to formulate a better plan.  
  
“It’s better than being caught, then,” she concluded.  
  
“Good, now switch into your squid form and hop into the bag.”  
  
“Octopus form.”  
  
“R-right.”  
  
Tenta did as she was told and slipped into her octopus form, fitting herself into the bag she had brought with her that now sat on the ground. Grii lifted it up and set the strap over her shoulder, surprised at the general weight of the bag. She peeked inside and caught Tenta glancing up at her intently.  
  
“Um, would it be okay to zip it up? It’d hide you better but I’m not sure you’ll get enough air.” Grii pointed out.  
  
“Just zip it up and leave a crack of space, it won’t be too stuffy I think,” Tenta said.  
  
“Alright.”  
  
The trip to the surface was a quick and simple one. Although it was dark, Grii did not have any difficulty with navigating out of the domes and into the valley. She paced forward past the shack with all its photos and conspiracies about octarians and found Cap’n Cuttlefish asleep in his chair snoring, not unlike the other night; thus he was easy to get past without trouble.  
  
Her only concern, though, was if the trains were still open. Walking from the plaza to her house, or at least to her moped, would take more time than she’s willing to spend as well as raise suspicion from any Inkopolis authorities or passerby inklings.  
  
She stood at the sewer pipe at the entrance and decided to take out her phone to check the time. Hopefully, it wasn’t that late, considering her visit into the domes didn’t feel that long. When her phone booted up, she felt waves and waves of vibrating messages fill her hand and her eyes grew wide.  
  
Oh god was an understatement.  
  
Of course, they were all from Ann and Quinn, with exception of a message her own mother. They mainly consisted of “where are you” or “please call us right now” while the one from her mother read “Hey kid, you’re probably having some wild adventure, huh? (she added a smiling emoji with an open mouth) Pack beverages or something. (here she put three thumbs up emojis) I remember having one of those adventures where I ignored all my friends and family and went out showing those turf war n00bs who’s boss. (She decided to insert two laughing with tears emojis here) Good luck to you sweetie! (Three kissy emojis were inserted here)”  
  
Grii didn’t understand the text her mother sent at all and decided not to worry about it. She’d reply to Ann and Quinn eventually, but couldn’t bring herself to think of a good enough response, so she did as she always did: ignore it for now and think of a better reply later. Her main motive was to get home and get Tenta situated and that’s that.  
  
She checked the time. 10:36 pm, not terribly late at all, just enough time to make it home on the train.  
  
She put her phone in her pocket and looked down to her bag.  
  
“Are you doing alright?” She asked Tenta.  
  
The octoling replied with a muffled “yeah” and nothing else.  
  
Grii dived into the sewer grates and popped out of the other side of the manhole now arriving in the Inkopolis plaza. She sprinted into the station and found the train to her route had ample time to leave, so she darted up to the door and shoved her ticket in the conductor’s face before entering.  
  
She stood bent over with her hand on her knees while inside the train for a few moments, trying to catch her breath. Once she did, she sat down towards the back to avoid the presence of those around her. The train wasn’t crowded in the slightest, yet she found herself gravitating towards the back like she always did. Crowds always made her feel uncomfortable, it drained her ability to move and she wasn’t sure why. This time she had even more of a reason to hide in the back since she didn’t want to alert the patrons of Tenta’s presence, so she felt some slight assurance in that.  
  
“Hold the door, please!” rang a familiar voice outside the train.  
  
The jellyfish conductor nodded and signed “I need your ticket” back to the voice. The mystery person obliged, gently handing the ticket to the conductor.  
  
Grii recognized who it was as soon when his sky-blue tentacles came into view as he entered through the door of the train.  
  
He was considerably shorter than the other inklings around him, maybe a bit scrawnier too, but his general demeanor of confidence kept his head higher than the Inkopolis Tower itself and looked down to those who oppose him.  
  
His voice was smooth yet careless with a hint of humor and cockiness mixed in. The pitch wasn’t too high or too low either but it certainly could carry far enough so those in the back could hear.  
  
His pink-colored eyes scanned the area before him, looking for a place to either sit or stand that didn’t disturb the patrons. He nodded to each and every one of them as he passed by, giving them the same crooked smile he always wore.  
  
Grii wondered if he’d notice her at all. But as soon as she had that thought, he made eye contact with her and waved.  
  
“Hey, Grii!” He called.  
  
She could only muster a nervous smile and a small wave in his general direction.  
  
“Do you mind if I sit next to you?”  
  
Say no.  
  
“S-sure.”  
  
Heck.  
  
Denying a family member (especially one she likes) a seat next to her seemed unwarranted anyway, despite the reasoning behind it. Grii figured she could hide the fact that she was hiding Tenta well enough that even her cousin wouldn’t suspect anything, so she picked up the bag from the seat next to her and set it on top of her lap to make room for him.  
  
He sat down, practically melting into the seat in a way that made it look like the most comfortable surface that has ever existed in the world.  
  
“What are you doing out so late, Tint?” Grii asked without a hint of self-awareness.  
  
“I was going to ask you that,” Tint commented, “Well, more specifically, where have you been for the past twenty o’ four hours? Like, your teammates have been skittish and Aunt Clovie asked me if you were on some “turf adventure” or something.”  
  
Grii could tell he was concerned, annoyed even, no matter how well he tried to hide it.  His eyes would always squint slightly whenever he was uncomfortable, and she saw him try to conceal that as he spoke.  
  
Grii bit her lip. She couldn’t think of a good excuse in the slightest.  
  
“Uh well,” She started, “Mom was right. I was on a turf war trip. I... um… I went exploring a lot of Inkopolis learning about… Different techniques professionals were using. It was an all day thing and I pretty much cut out outside communication so no one would interrupt me!”  
  
God that was bad.  
  
Tint nodded, raising an eyebrow and adding half-smile to go with it.  
  
“Is that why you have that bag with you?”  
  
Grii’s heart rate increased and she felt her cheeks become hot. She nodded frantically, unsure what else to say.  
  
“What’s inside it?” Tint asked.  
  
“Uh, notebooks a-and turf equipment.”  
  
“Oh, that’s cool. By the way, when I take notes on turf professionals, I usually like to record them with-”  
  
A muffled sneeze from the bag cut Tint off mid sentence and silence fell between the two inklings. Grii felt sweat bead up on her forehead as Tint glanced at the bag and back up to her with confusion on her face.  
  
“Uh…” He started.  
  
“That was my phone!” Grii stammered, “It’s a new text notification I downloaded from that T.V show I like and the part where the main character sneezed was funny and-” She trailed off.  
  
Tint laughed and patted her on the shoulder.  
  
“Grii, if you’re hiding a stray sea-slug in your bag again, that’s alright.” He laughed, “What is it, the third time this year you’ve done that?”  
  
Grii pressed her lips together.  
  
“Anyway, you should probably take it straight to the animal shelter instead of your house, you know? I mean I know you don’t like going straight…” He chuckled at his own joke then yelped in surprise at Grii pushing his face away.  
  
“I don’t get why you keep saying that,” Grii furrowed her brow and avoided his gaze. “I’m... Not not-straight.”  
  
“So… You’re straight?” he asked, amused.  
  
She paused. She tried to say yes but that wouldn’t feel quite right.  
  
“No… I’m probably just not attracted to anyone.” She concluded, but that didn’t feel right either. She shook her head. “I don’t know, honestly.”  
  
Tint frowned. “Well, it’s not that big of a deal if you don’t know, Grii. You don’t have to find out, but have you considered that you might like girls?”  
  
Grii stared at him.  
  
“If I did I would have had a crush on one by now.”  
  
“I’m just putting that out there.” He shrugged. “Anyway, just take the seaslug to the shelter. I’m sure they’ll take care of its vaccination and stuff.”  
  
“Yeah I guess.”  
  
  
  
Grii slung the bag over her shoulder as she got up from the seat and waved her cousin a goodbye as the train pulled up to her stop. She checked her phone as she got off and found there were no new messages, to her relief. There little to no inklings around her in the heart of the city, as it was nearly pitch black with exception of few lights that were on in the apartment suites and the street lights towering over her. She leaned in close to the bag under her arm and whispered.  
  
“We’re almost to my house, I just need to get my moped from the parking garage and drive it home.”  
  
Grii heard a muffled “what’s a moped?” come from Tenta and told the octoling that she’d explain later.  
  
She unlocked the breaks with her keypad and drove off. As she drove, her thoughts kept trailing back to what Tint told her on the train.  
  
You might like girls kept ringing in her mind. Her heart sank. How would I know? She thought. I’ve only ever liked Reddin and that didn’t turn out very well.  
  
She definitely didn’t want to dwell on what happened between the two of them. All it did was prove time and time again that she isn’t desirable. If she couldn’t put her heart in it when she was with him, then she probably doesn’t deserve to be with anyone at all. So why should it matter if she did like girls?  
  
Grii wiped her cheek and found her hand was wet with tears. No matter how many times she wiped it, she couldn’t keep it dry. Crying with a helmet on was inconvenient, so she decided the best solution would be not to cry at all, and it wasn’t easy. But she managed to pull it off so long as she wouldn’t need to feel emotions for the rest of the night. Her heartbreak covered itself with numbness and that was good enough for her.  
  
Grii parked the moped in its usual spot, hopped off of it, and opened the door to her house. Normally she’d worry about it being unlocked especially since she’s been away from home for an entire day, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.   
  
She unzipped the bag and Tenta surprisingly shot out of it with high speed. The octoling shifted into her humanoid form and her cold goggles stared back at Grii. Somehow, the goggles had more emotion.  
  
Tenta tilted her head, probably expecting the inkling to say something but no words were exchanged whatsoever. Instead, Grii handed Tenta her bag and gestured to the Octoling to follow her up the stairs. She followed and stood back when Grii opened the door to her room.  
  
The room was a considerable mess, with sheets of paper lying on the ground along with empty cardboard boxes and picture frames. Her dresser had a bunch of useless junk, old toys, and accessories, not unlike any other shelves in her room, and a bunch of clothing stuck out from the drawers and from inside the crowded closet.  
  
Two beds sat on opposite sides of the room. One looked like a tornado hit the surface of the covers and the other looked like it never had another person lie in it since it had been conceived as a bed. Sure, the messier one had more personality in contrast with the neat bed’s colorless sheets, but it didn’t look like an appealing object to sleep on.  
  
Grii plopped herself face first on the messy bed, ignoring any possible look of disgust Tenta would, and should, probably give her.  
  
She doesn’t like me. Grii thought. One part of her told her she was being irrational, but she ignored it. She has no reason to. She just needs somewhere to stay in hiding. Grii felt herself grow angry for no reason that she knew of and getting angry for no reason made her grow angry at herself until it became a huge argument inside her mind.  
  
None of the sides made sense and she didn’t know which one to root for. Was she angry at Tenta? Did having her there make her feel used? Is that why she’s angry?  
  
She cursed herself out because that was stupid since she’s the one who offered Tenta a place to stay in the first place.  
  
Grii glanced up to catch a look at the octoling and found her removing the armor that covered her body, as well as her boots, gloves, and belt. The only armor that she left on was the goggles covering her face. Grii didn’t bother thinking about the reasoning behind that, all she wanted to do now was sleep.  
  
To her surprise, Tenta looked back at her.  
  
“...Grii?” Tenta spoke softly, “Are you okay?”  
  
No, I’m not. Is what she wanted to say, but she couldn't find any words within herself at all. Instead, she buried herself underneath the covers of her bed.  
  
All she heard was silence until the sound of shuffling filled her ears, and she assumed Tenta was situating herself into the guest bed. Grii reached over and turned off the light, feeling herself finally drift off to sleep after what felt like an eternity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyyy thanks for reading this chapter <3 My poor child, Grii, is going through some emotional stuff if you couldn't tell :'< someone help her


	9. We Lost Our Way That Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter? Within the same month? That's a miracle!!
> 
> Here's a slight transphobia warning before reading this chapter

Her feet landed softly on the warm ground. Darkness surrounded her, but little balls of lights rose from the floor and drifted into the air. They flurried around her and it all illuminated her face like the shine of moonlight on a clear night. As she took in a breath, the flurries gravitated toward her and drifted away when she exhaled.

She chased them, giggling as she tried to catch each and every one of them. She darted back and forth between each light as they seeped out of her hands. Eventually, she gave up and decided it was best to simply observe them. Not every beautiful thing was tangible, she decided.

As she stood still, she heard the sound of mist fill her ears and cold water droplets cover her feet. She turned and froze at the sight of what was behind her.

The Feeling had returned, materializing herself into Grii’s plane of existence. She was considerably smaller than she was upon their first meeting; instead of stretching for miles and miles beyond view, she stood no taller than Grii. In fact, she was slightly smaller than the inkling.

Grii smiled and approached the cosmic being with the ground beneath her illuminating for every footstep she took.

“I’ve missed you,” she whispered.

The Feeling didn’t respond. Instead, she began morphing into different shapes at a speed that gradually grew faster until it burst into a high energy of bright light. Grii shielded her eyes. She was taken aback by the process that took place before her, unsure of what was happening.

Suddenly the bright light began to change form, shifting in different ways until it grew to resemble something humanoid. The light drained away and The Feeling marked a slow descent to the ground. Her new feet landed crookedly and planted themselves to the ground, causing her to shift her weight to regain balance. Then, she lifted herself up and faced Grii, looking her in the eyes.

The Feeling was a few inches shorter than Grii. Her body had a glow to it reminiscent of the stars in the sky and her features were vague and blurry. Grii couldn’t make out much of her face or any detail on her body. Where her tentacles should be, instead, was obscured by a red mist that covered her head and part of her face, leaving the other side untouched.

She bore the same plain dress that Grii wore, though hers had a fluffier appearance and reflected off the light from her pale skin. Her overall makeup resembled a blurry photograph; something rather intangible and mysterious.

The only part that Grii could properly visualize was her eyes: they were almond shaped with eyelashes that formed densely in a uniform direction, curling in a way that was too perfect to be on an organic life form. 

Her irises were seafoam green with glints of blue sparkled in towards the pupils, resembling sunlight reflecting against water in the ocean. As she smiled, her eyes twinkled brighter leaving Grii absolutely enamored.

The Feeling held out her hand for Grii to take and Grii slipped her’s in gently, rubbing her thumb over The Feeling’s hand as their fingers entwined together.

“I’ve missed you, too,” The Feeling replied.

Grii’s heart fluttered.

“Since you’re here, would you care to dance, Grii?” The Feeling asked.

“D-dance? Why dance?”

“You weren’t feeling well, I can tell,” She explained. “Dancing usually helps me feel better, so I thought we could dance the night away. It’s much better with a partner anyway.” She smiled at Grii and fluttered her eyes flirtingly, causing the inkling to blush a deep red.

Grii nodded, her heart swelling. “Well, what kind of dance then?”

“A waltz,” She responded.

“Oh, I don’t really know how to waltz…” Grii fretted, rubbing the back of her neck. “Or at least, I don’t think I’m very good at it.”

“That’s okay, I can teach you,” The Feeling assured her.

Grii let out a small gasp as she felt The Feeling’s other arm wrap around her back and pull them close together. She could feel her heart beating one thousand miles per hour as she stared into The Feeling’s eyes, with their faces just a few inches apart from each other. The Feeling chuckled sweetly, clearly amused at how flustered Grii was.

Grii shifted her gaze and nearly double-take in surprise as she found the void was no longer a void but instead was a meadow filled with flowers, trees, and clear skies. The sounds of wandering streams and rustling leaves echoed around them, accompanied by the whistle of a small breeze that blew against her face and caused her dress to ruffle in the air. The faint sound of a melodic tune revealed itself through the environment; through every tree, flower, and stream came a quiet song that played.

“Let’s start off slowly,” The Feeling announced. “All you have to do is follow my steps.”

Grii nodded, words failing her.

The steps were awkward and took some getting used to, especially with a few accidental steps on each other’s feet and Grii apologizing profusely, yet The Feeling kept smiling and reassuring her that she’ll get it in due time.

Eventually, the patterns became easier to pull off and the two moved in perfect sync, elegantly shifting through each pattern with grace and unity. Over time, they grew closer together. Grii had set her head on top of her partner’s shoulder and her hand softly caressed her back while The Feeling had her arms wrapped around Grii’s body. They stopped dancing and instead stood in an embrace, occasionally rocking in beat with the quiet music.

“Hey um,” Grii started. “This is probably weird to ask right now but, who are you, exactly? Like, what’s your name? You seem really familiar.”

The Feeling froze. She took a quick breath and loosened the hug, looking Grii in the eyes. Her expression was uncertain like she had a secret she was too afraid to share.

“If I told you who I am, I’m not sure if you’d…” She paused again. “I don’t think you’d like to know.”

“Wait, do I know you in person?”

“I can’t tell you.”

Grii set her hand against The Feeling’s cheek and brushed it gently.

“I’m sure whoever you are wouldn’t bother me,” She soothed. “You’re wonderful, you know.”

That was the first time she ever saw The Feeling blush. A rose color graced her cheeks as she smiled and she pressed her forehead against Grii’s, leaving only an inch of space between them.

“You don’t have to tell me, it’s okay,” Grii whispered. The Feeling hummed in acknowledgment.

“You’ll find out who I am eventually,” she assured her. “But for now, just know that I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Grii purred.

The Feeling closed her eyes and leaned in. Grii followed, closing her eyes and pressing her lips against her partner’s into a kiss. Grii held The Feeling’s mist covered head in her hand and caressed it softly while her partner played with the tentacles on the nape of her neck with her fingers.

They stood for what felt like an eternity, but eventually the kiss broke. Grii held The Feeling’s hands in her own and glanced around, taking in the environment around her.

“I don’t think I want to wake up,” Grii admitted dreamily. “Staying here with you is nicer.”

The Feeling nodded in understanding. “I know, but you’re going to have to wake up eventually.”

“Mmm, yeah,” Grii replied. “By the way, even if you can’t tell me your name, is there something else I can call you?”

“You can call me... Sentira.” She answered.

Grii smiled. “I like it. It’s gorgeous.”

Sentira blushed.

“Well then, Sentira, I hope we can see each other again soon,” Grii sighed. “I’m not sure how these dreams work but, if I’ve met you a second time I can probably meet you a third.”

Sentira nodded and buried herself in Grii’s arms.

They stood together, waiting for Grii’s eventual wake-up. As it came, the ground of the meadow cracked and lifted into the air in chunks, taking the flowers and trees with it. The streams had also bubbled up and evaporated into a fine mist that spread around the realm and into the sky, eventually disappearing and leaving nothing but the empty void in which they arrived.

* * *

 

Tenta drifted awake from her slumber and jumped in surprise, momentarily disorientated by the unfamiliar environment around her. Once she realized where she was, she took a deep breath to calm herself down and laid back on the bed again.

She turned her head over to where Grii lay and found the inkling still asleep, curled in a fetal position and mumbling incoherently.  

Tenta glanced at the clock and quickly back at Grii in surprise, wondering how the inkling could even sleep that long; it was 10 am, probably the latest Tenta had slept in recent memory and yet Grii lay there completely passed out.

She shook her head, sat up, and stretched, glancing around the room. It was in simple terms, a mess, but it beat the cold depressing view of the barracks in Octo Valley and she found solace in the coziness of it all. It certainly did have the presence of someone living, even thriving in this place, so it was good enough for her.

The only thing that actually bothered her was the trash on the floor but she figured Grii would pick it up in due time, if the inkling woke up soon.

As she sat up, she recalled the events of the previous night. Mostly, it was sitting in a bag trying her hardest not to cough because god knows how stuffy that bag actually  _was_ , as well as stressing over the possibility of getting caught if Grii’s plan had failed. It was a close call when she sneezed in the presence of another inkling (Tint was their name?), but Grii managed to convince them it was something else.

Her mind trailed back to the conversation that Grii had with her friend, about Grii’s orientation. She shouldn’t have been eavesdropping, but she wanted to know if Grii was someone she could trust in that regard. From what Tenta heard, Inkopolis was a more accepting place than Octovalley, so Grii probably subscribed to the acceptance ideology as well.

Grii's reaction to Tint's statement had put her on edge, considering the inkling pushed them away and grew to be irritated. But hearing the rest of the conversation made Tenta feel empathetic for Grii as she clearly was in denial about herself, a thought process that the octoling was all too familiar with; especially with the treatment she got back in the domes.

Though, the cruel treatment wasn’t for her orientation; Octovalley was generally okay when it came to couples of the same gender, but not for...

Tenta quickly shoved any thoughts of Octovalley aside and focused on getting out of bed. She racked her brain trying to figure out why Grii’s mood soured last night; the image of her tear stained face still etched in her mind and bothered her, but she figured it’d be best if she let her be.

Lifting up the bag, she sifted through the contents of it. First, she pulled out a bottle of pills, then a toothbrush, then finally a fresh set of clothing. The clothes were nothing too fancy, just a black tank top and shorts that usually went under her armor but were comfortable enough to lounge around in.

She opened the door to the bathroom and walked inside, setting the pills on the counter and changing into the fresh set of clothes. In the mirror, she caught sight of her reflection staring back at her with dingy goggles.

The reflection frowned. The octoling looked very different than she remembered: she was unusually thin and quite pale, her face looked drained of color, and she didn’t dare think about how she’d look if she removed her goggles. The only thing that remained consistent was her height and the short tentacles on the back of her head.

Tenta inspected the tentacles, twisting the angles of them and double checking to see if there were any changes. There were none. Disappointment pitted in her stomach and tears burned in her eyes, urging herself not to cry. They hadn’t grown at all despite everything else about her body changing on the medication. _It’ll take time._ She reminded herself. _It’s different for everyone._

Sighing, she picked up her toothbrush, inspecting it before placing it under the faucet and turning it on. She brushed her teeth then ingested her dosage of pills before creeping back into the bedroom, surprised to see that Grii still wasn’t awake.

A large growl came from her stomach and she realized all she had to eat yesterday was a morsel or two of hardtack. Reaching her hand into the bag, she hoped to find more but it, to her dismay, was empty. Setting it aside, she cursed under her breath for not having packed more, but she realized probably Grii has food in her kitchen.

Tenta left the bedroom and scurried down the stairs, avoiding the windows as to not give herself away to any inkling passerby who’d come across the building. The octoling slipped into the kitchen and fumbled through the drawers looking for something she could snack on.

Instead, she came across a recipe book and figured she could make something from scratch. Before she was sent off to the military, she loved to cook meals with her mother. It was a nice hobby that occupied her time well, so perhaps she could get back into it while she stayed here.

Tenta flipped through the book of recipes and quickly found out she didn’t know what many of the ingredients _were_ or how to pronounce any of them. A solid 5 minutes was spent thinking about the pronunciation for rhubarb before she swiftly flipped to another page, found the ingredient asafoetida, closed the book, and smacked it against her face in frustration.

She took a deep breath and opened the book again, flipping through the pages. The page flipped to a recipe for scrambled eggs and was delighted to see that it contained very few ingredients, ignoring the fact that she was confused as to what  _kind_ of eggs it used. She got up and set the book on the counter, looking for the eggs the recipe called for. Opening the fridge, the eggs were in plain sight on the top shelf. She took one out of the carton and set it on the counter next to the cookbook.

She then found a pan and some butter like the rest of the recipe called for, set the pan on the stove, and placed a slice of butter on it. As the butter melted she cracked an egg and cooked it thoroughly until it was brown then placed it on a plate. Eventually, she realized Grii may have wanted some as well, so she took the extra time to make another plate.

Tenta sat down at the table and began enjoying her meal. It wasn’t anything she was used to, but it tasted loads better than the food she was served at the camp. She went over the recipe again, seeing if there was anything she forgot to add.

“Hey.”

Tenta jumped in surprise, nearly knocking her plate over. Turning her head, she found Grii standing at the entrance to the kitchen with a bemused expression on her face.

“H-hey,” Tenta replied with her mouth full. She swallowed and looked back to the cookbook, not really reading it. “I made you some, uh, scrambled eggs.”

“Really?” Grii asked.

“Mmhmm. They’re on the counter.”

“Huh. Thanks.”

Tenta nodded and went back to staring at the page. She felt awkward in Grii’s presence as they didn’t really know each other that well, and it was especially awkward considering she was in a residence that isn’t her own. Whether or not they were actually friends was difficult for Tenta to gauge; the inkling seemed to admire her, just a little, from what she could tell, but she certainly didn’t feel she could trust her yet.

Grii set her plate down on the other side of the table and sat across from Tenta, inspecting the eggs on her plate.

“You like your eggs burnt? And without salt and pepper?” She asked.

“They’re burnt?!” Tenta blurted out, disappointed in herself.

“N-no no no, it’s okay! They can be served like that,” Grii assured her.

“But what about the missing ingredients?”

“Here.”

Grii slid two shakers to Tenta, one full of grainy black stuff and the other full of clear crystals.

“You can spice them afterward, they’re for enhancing the flavor,” She explained. “Some people prefer their eggs without salt and pepper, but I like them on mine. Also, don’t sprinkle a whole lot on them either, it’ll be overwhelming.”

Tenta nodded and sprinkled the spices on the remaining eggs as suggested. She handed the spices back over to Grii and watched her sprinkle them on her eggs too.

The two didn’t say much to each other, but Tenta noticed Grii’s gentle smile as she stared into space with her cheeks red as a cardinal’s feathers. Tenta tilted her head, ready to ask a question.

“You seem like you’re in a better mood,” she commented.

“Oh, yeah,” Grii responded. “I had a nice dream last night, but you probably wouldn’t get it.”

Tenta felt anger boil inside her and furrowed her brow, feeling free to do so since Grii wouldn’t be able to see it. _How condescending._ She thought.

“Wait, I didn’t mean it like that,” she corrected herself as if reading Tenta's mind. “What I meant to say is, it was kind of complex,” She shook her head, trying to gain composure. Tenta tapped her fingers against the table, expecting Grii to come up with some decent explanation.

“Like, even I barely got it, but I think I kinda had a dream like this before. I was with someone, I don’t know who exactly, but she and I were pretty close. She danced with me, trying to help me feel better. As we danced, I asked her if I knew her in real life and she said she couldn’t tell me, but she did tell me to call her Sentira,” Grii blushed. “And then, she and I…” The inkling giggled, her cheeks growing redder and redder as she struggled to explain.

Tenta raised her eyebrows in surprise. Sentira was an octarian name, a common one at that.

“And then what?” Tenta asked.

“Oh, um…” Grii rubbed the back of her neck. “Does it mean anything if you have a dream about a girl and you… Kiss her?”

Tenta stared at her.

“Yes,” she replied. “It means that you’re attracted to girls.”

Grii raised her eyebrow in disbelief.

“For all I know, Sentira could be anyone. Maybe they might be a boy in real life…”

Tenta saw Grii’s face twitch as she said “boy.” This inkling was in some serious denial, especially if she became disgusted at the idea of being with a man. Tenta sighed and rested her hand on her own cheek.

“What did she look like?” The octoling asked.

“Well,” Grii started. “She was kind of blurry and hard to see, but from what I remember she was kind of short, had red tentacles that I couldn’t make out well either, wore a white dress…”

Tenta nodded.

“And, her eyes were seafoam green.”

Tenta nearly choked on her eggs and felt her face grow hotter than a grate-less kettle.

“Are you okay?” Grii asked.

“I-I’m fine. That’s an interesting dream,” Tenta responded while trying to keep herself from coughing. _That has to be a coincidence, the way that Grii’s dream person looked._ _Y-yeah_ , _there’s probably an inkling out there that looks exactly as she described._ She thought. The statement about Sentira being a boy made her _really_ uncomfortable now if the resemblance was who she thought it meant to be.

“Hmm, yeah,” Grii smiled. “It was nice.”

The inkling rose from her seat and walked to the other side of the kitchen, setting her empty plate in the sink. She straightened her jacket and walked into the other room, leaving Tenta in the kitchen by herself.

“I’m going out now; running errands, doing ink sports, all that stuff. Will you be okay here by yourself?” Grii called from across the house.

“I suppose so,” Tenta replied.

“Alrighty! Thanks for the eggs. I’ll be back soon.”

Tenta heard the front door slam shut before she could reply, echoing across the house in a way that signified just how empty it was. The only noise that filled it was the buzz of the refrigerator and the ticking clock on the wall.

“You’re welcome,” she muttered to herself.

Within a few minutes, Tenta realized just how lonely she was here. Her mind kept wandering back to Octovalley, even if things were terrible for her back there, at least she had Marin or Jin to keep her company.

While staying in Grii’s home was millions and millions times better than being caught and forced back into the military, it was alienating and unfamiliar to her. Once she realized how long she’d have to stay here, her heart sank.

She really missed how her life was before being drafted, and she _really really_ missed her life before her parents passed away. She wanted them back, she wanted to be back in her bedroom reading picture books with her father. She wanted to be back in the park with her mother, playing on the swings and running around with the other girls her age getting into all sorts of trouble. Though, the girls didn’t want to play with her at the time.

“You’re a _boy,”_ they’d say, “and _boys_ don’t play with girls!”

And when that happened, she’d cry to her mother. Her mother would hug her and tell her that she _is_ a girl no matter what others say. Her father told her that she’ll find friends who will accept her for who she is inside and not to bother with people who’d only hurt her.

Tenta laughed bitterly. _If it were only that easy, not bothering with people who hurt me._ She thought.

All she had now is the hope that she’ll be able to return home to an Octovalley worth living in, and even then that wasn’t guaranteed. Maybe she’d never get to go back and instead rot inside this inkling’s home for an eternity.

Her whole body racked in sobs and she felt miserable about everything she’s lost. It wasn’t fair. She had a loving and accepting family, a wonderful godfather, and a best friend, and she’s lost _all of them._ Why was life so cruel to her?

She took off her goggles and rubbed her eyes, feeling the soreness of her eye sockets as her hand wiped away her tears. Crying would get her nowhere, she decided, so she headed back upstairs and flopped herself into the guest bed, daring not to move from her place. It was one day of many days to go, thus she might as well speed through them by sleeping them off.

And for her, falling asleep was easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know there's a point where I ask myself "Hey, when will you stop writing sad stuff." and I answer with a shrug and a "Soon, hopefully."


	10. Strike Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update -confetti-
> 
> Also, there's a bit more violence in this chapter in comparison to the last few, oops
> 
> EDIT 7/21/2018: Made some edits here, specifically in dialogue

Grii locked the door behind her as she stepped out of her house. A whiplash of a cold wind blew against her cheek causing it to burn rather uncomfortably. It was freezing out, even more than usual, and she debated going back inside for a scarf to wrap around her face. It’ll get warmer later in the day, she told herself. It was still early in the morning, so the temperature was bound to rise once afternoon hit.   
  
It was as quiet as it was cold in the suburban neighborhood. No child or adult stirred in the sidewalks, nor was there any sounds of car engines running or powering on. All that Grii could hear was the rustle of the leaves around her and the distant whirrs of cars driving up and down the freeway blocks away from her house. All her neighbors must have already left to attend school or head to work, not that Grii cared much anyway since she barely knew them.   
  
One would assume that being the daughter of a famous turf war athlete would garner more attention to her, but it didn’t. Unless she lived up to the same title as her mother, she’d be treated like any other aspiring athlete.   
  
This didn’t bother Grii. In fact, she preferred it that way; it allowed her more freedom to learn on her own and kept her from being subjected to high standards of others. While her mother had high expectations for her, it was generally more lenient and let her go about things her own way. Really, the only person she could think of who gave her unfair expectations was long gone.   
  
Grii hopped on her moped and slipped the helmet onto her head, fastening it tightly to make sure it wouldn’t fall off. She opened her bag and checked if all the contents of what she needed were inside.   
  
She had her roller compressed into its travel size capsule, her headphones for the train ride was secured in one of the pockets (though she didn’t feel up to riding the train today), extra gear and weapons were neatly placed inside, and her phone and wallet with her necessary turf IDs lie on top of it all.   
  
Her eyes focused on the phone, realizing there was something she forgot to do. What it was, she couldn’t remember. Then she cursed at herself once she realized she forgot to respond to her friends’ texts.   
  
“Why am I like this,” she muttered to herself.   
  
She zipped the bag up, slumped it over her shoulder, and quickly responded to their messages.   
  
An immediate buzz in her hand caught her attention as the screen illuminated a reply from Ann, telling her to meet them at the cafe in the Inkopolis plaza.   
  
Grii replied swiftly and put her phone back into the bag without any further response from her friend. She punched in numbers on the keypad to her moped then started up the engine, which let a rumble as she pulled out of the driveway and into the street.   
  
She drove down the road, feeling the brisk air blow against her tentacles as she zipped out of the neighborhood. The moped was easily her favorite form of transportation, as it let her ride so freely and close to the environment in Inkopolis.   
  
Instead of finding a place to park her moped and take the train, she decided to avoid the public crowds and ride directly to the plaza. Sure, it’d take longer, but it beat having to stay crammed in a moving box with a bunch of other people. Plus, it was the perfect opportunity to find new places on the way there.   
  
Her eye caught sight of a video rental store, clearly still available due to the novelty of the place rather than its content. Online streaming was the way to go in this day and age, but a lot of inklings still love vintage things.   
  
What caught Grii’s attention about the place was the fact that they sold snacks at the counter, which was convenient considering she loved snacks to go with her movies.   
  
There were other neat places she passed, such as a bakery, a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, a classic video game store, and a creperie. She’d have to stop by these shops later, perhaps on a free day.   
  
The moped screeched to a stop as Grii pulled up into the plaza. She parked it, stuffed her helmet into her bag, and pulled out her phone to check the time. 11:47 am, not too late for a joyride.   
  
Grii slid in through the cafe door which let out a loud screech as she entered. Ignoring the glances that came her way from the other patrons, she located Ann and Quinn from across where she stood, sitting on stools in front of the main counter.   
  
The two inklings were chatting away with each other but abruptly stopped once they caught sight of Grii. Quinn smiled and waved from where she sat while Ann shot up and speed walked her way over to Grii, doing her best not to disturb the other patrons despite nearly knocking over anything that came her way.   
  
“Grii, are you okay?! Where were you yesterday?! You didn’t answer any of our texts until earlier this morning.”   
  
“We were gonna call the police and report you as a missing person!” Quinn interrupted, catching up to Ann. She seemed generally worry-free about the situation while Ann paced back and forth in a jittery fashion, leaving Grii confused about how to approach apologizing about -- well, worrying them despite the contrast in their reactions.   
  
“Uh, uhm, I’m fine, yeah,” Grii lifted her hands up in defense. “Look, why don’t we sit down and talk about this?”   
  
“Okay! That sounds nice,” Quinn smiled.   
  
Ann visibly clenched her jaw and guilt dropped like a rock in Grii’s stomach. She really didn’t mean to make Ann so worried by all of this, everything happened out of her control. Of course, she couldn’t explain to her friends about what happened, so she’d have to lie and take the fall.   
  
Grii ordered a hot chocolate and sat down next to her friends, unprepared to come up with a story.   
  
“So Grii, where did you go?”   
  
“I went out and... visited the professional turf war stadiums to see what techniques the professionals were using. My phone died as soon as I got there and I ended up staying over there all night, I checked into a hotel too.”   
  
“Really? You went to a professional turf war stadium?!” Quinn jumped up in excitement and got a little too close to Grii’s face for her liking.   
  
Grii nodded. “It was really cool, you should think about going there sometime.”   
  
“Aren’t the tickets really expensive? Especially to see the athletes practice?” Ann questioned, tapping her feet in a way that added to how doubtful she looked.   
  
“Ah well, mom paid for it. Maybe I can get you guys a ticket some time.” Grii said, taking a sip of her hot chocolate.   
  
“Well, I’m glad you had a good day yesterday, then,” Ann commented. “But you shouldn’t have worried us like that.”   
  
“Yeah, I know…” Grii sighed, then took a swig of her hot chocolate.   
  
“But seeing as you went to a stadium, do you wanna show off the cool new techniques you learned while you were there?”   
  
Grii nearly spat out her drink.   
  
“Uh, uh… I’m not sure if I can pull it off, they looked kinda hard.” She said, trying not to visibly tear up as the hot chocolate burned her throat.   
  
“Aw come on Grii, show us your stuff!” Quinn encouraged her.   
  
“Yeah, show us what you’ve learned!” Ann chanted.   
  
Grii sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy.

 

____________________________________   
  
“H-hello? Marin? Val ordered us all to wake up an hour ago,” came a shaky voice from the barrack entrance.   
  
Marin grunted in response and sat up, stretching their arms over their body and yawning loudly. Resting the night before wasn’t particularly easy for them, especially considering it’s been two days since Tenta left the camp and as far they know she still hasn’t been found. Marin found it hard to tell if they should be relieved or nervous, it’d mean the military wouldn’t be able to find her but neither would they.   
  
Deciding to push away their thoughts for now, they looked the underling in the eye with no discernable expression and saw her nearly melt from intimidation. God, how they hated it when people looked at them like that.   
  
“U-um, she ordered us all outside..?” the underling trailed off.   
  
“Tell Val I said she should shove a tentacle in her mouth and fuck off,” they grumbled.   
  
“B-b-but, she’s not in a particularly good mood right now! And saying that would make it worse!”   
  
Marin paused.   
  
“What’s your name again? Lilline?”   
  
The younger octoling nodded.   
  
“Yeah, Lilline, tell her I’ll be out in a minute or something. I have a feeling if she’s hissy she’s gonna wanna take that out on everyone.”   
  
Lilline nodded and scurried out of the barracks, not even so much as looking Marin in the eye. Marin wondered if the octolings there either feared them or respected them considering the way they all acted around them. Evidence pointed toward the former; nobody shook in fear around people they respected.   
  
At least I’m not as bad as Val was all they could think to reassure themself. People were afraid of Marin, but everyone was terrified of Val and for good reason. The elite would probably throw someone off a cliff and not even think twice about it, whereas Marin only intimidated people based on appearance alone. They were all hiss and no bite; and they couldn’t bite, not for no good reason. None of the octolings there (aside from Val) ever did anything aside from being scared of Marin and that wasn’t a punishable crime on its own.   
  
They were used to it, considering their deformed eyes and extra set of fangs made them look like a hybrid between a snake and an octoling. Val loved rubbing that in their face with shameless nicknames like “snake-face” or “python breath,” dehumanizing the octoling further.   
  
The only one there who wasn’t afraid of Marin was Tenta, the most helpless of the group and the one subjected to the worst of Val’s treatment. It’d make sense that she and Marin would get along well considering they both despised Val on equal levels.   
  
Thinking of Tenta only made Marin itch to go out and search for Agent 3, but it’d be awhile before they’d be able to do that without Val noticing.   
  
Jumping off the top bunk and landing on the ground, they swiftly put on their armor and headed out the door. Harsh light of the LED skies shined against their goggles and temporarily blinded them once they stepped outside. Taking a few moments to get their vision back, Marin heard the distinct sound of incoherent yelling fill their ears.   
  
Oh, there she goes.   
  
“What do you mean you haven’t found anything on the runt?!” Val screeched.   
  
Goofball readjusted their goggles after wiping off the excess saliva from Val’s yelling and looked their higher-up in the eyes, seemingly unphased.   
  
“Nothin’ else to it, commander. We all searched far and wide and there’s no sign of the tinypus anywhere.”   
  
Val reached her hand back and took a swing, aiming for the smaller elite’s goggles but nearly tipped over upon realizing she overextended and touched nothing but empty air. Or rather, Goofball ducked out of the way in time, but no one would believe they had the reflexes for that.   
  
The ground cracked underneath the commander’s foot as she stomped in an attempt to reaffirm her intimidation upon the underlings, but that wasn’t necessary since no one else was really watching. Basic chatter within groups of octolings around the camp remained unfazed, as they were ignoring what happened around them to avoid putting Val in an even angrier mood.   
  
And all it did was put Val in an even angrier mood.   
  
“Degenerates! All of you! All of you are a waste of space!” She screamed at the top of her lungs, nearly turning purple like a thumb beaten with a hammer.   
  
Everyone there twisted to look at her, silence falling on them as shock took over their faces and strangled their words. Val took off her goggles and gave the dirtiest look she could muster to each and every single one of them. If looks could kill, she would’ve committed mass slaughter.   
  
“Do you ever calm down?” Marin remarked.   
  
Val snapped her neck to look Marin in the eye, and Marin decided that yes -- Val never calms down.   
  
“ You, ” she hissed. “ You’re responsible for this.”   
  
“For what?”   
  
“For the runt’s escape! How dense are you?! That thing escaping was your little plan to spite me and make me look bad in front of our superiors,” Val barked.   
  
“Trust me, you already make yourself look bad,” Marin commented, beginning to walk away but found themself yanked back and unable to move.   
  
An intense pressure found its way on their arm, sending currents of painful electricity from their shoulder to their fingertips and held them back, causing them to scream in pain and fall down to their knees.   
  
They tried to pry themself free from Val’s death grip with little success, as the elite had twisted their arm behind their back and forced them against the ground with a swift kick. She towered over them, her boot pressing on the back of their head causing them to struggle against her grip, which only tightened the more they fought it. There was no winning here, despite their desperation to resist against Val’s false superiority complex, so Marin gave up trying to fight back and instead lie still on the ground hoping to avoid further harm.   
  
“Oh, don’t think I’d let you off so easy,” Val tormented them. “I want to make this clear to you and anyone else in this godforsaken place...”   
  
She loosened her grip on Marin’s arm, prompting them to yank it away from her and scurry away. They inspected it to make sure there weren’t any unseen injuries and distanced themself from the monster they taunted, feeling intense hatred swell inside them and burn their throat with flames.   
  
“If any of you even so much as think about trying to escape, you’re dead,” Val boomed. “I know all your strengths, weaknesses, and backgrounds; and I can use all of them to destroy you! So don’t even bother trying to escape like the runt had.”   
  
“Why… Are you so obsessed with her..?” Marin groaned. “A-As a legit question.”   
  
Val tilted her head, almost amused for once.   
  
“That’s a very good question, snake-face,” she smiled condescendingly.   
  
She cracked her wrists as she paced around the middle of the camp, looking around to make sure that all eyes were on her like a wolf prowling in a field surrounded by sheep. All sheep cowered, completely unaware of their strength in numbers and only focused on the beast in front of them with its raw, brutal strength.   
  
Claws, sharp teeth, and a deep darkened heart that ran colder than ice on mountain tops made up this wolf and its evilness. With this evilness, it wounded the ram; the wolf’s only rival and the savior of the herd. With that, all the sheep felt helpless fear run deep to their cores and turn them into a fear-stricken hivemind.   
  
Val took in a breath and stood up straight like she had a rehearsed speech to give, and that she did in her own mind.   
  
“My underlings,” she began, “None of you seem to understand my motivations, my ideologies, since it appears I have not explained them well.”   
  
She cracked her wrists again and it drove Marin nuts.   
  
“Octoling society’s largest enemies are the Inklings, yes? So that means we must reject their ideologies,” Val paused, taking in the reaction of the octolings around her and found them still frozen in fear to her disappointment. She continued.   
  
“Tenta, as you’ve known, is a traitor to our kind in more ways than one. She tries to make peace with Inklings and thinks she can avoid her duties to our kind.”   
  
Unease fell among the other octolings and a few wrinkled in disgust but were too afraid for their own safety to speak out. Acid foamed at Marin’s mouth as the words from Val’s corrupted soul exited her body and soured the air in which they breathed. Their body poised to strike out at the elite but stopped when they felt a gentle tug at their hand, surprising them. Marin turned and found Lilline standing next to them, her face distraught and her eyes pleading.   
  
“Don't,” She whispered. “Your arm is bad enough, what would she do to the rest of you?”   
  
Marin opened their mouth to object until they looked down at their other arm and found it barely holdings its shape, dripping into ink puddles on the ground to their horror. Bright patches of light filled their eyes and they fell into tunnel vision, noise echoing in and out but somehow plugging their ears as their heartbeat grew louder with the ground shaking beneath their feet. Nausea caused heat to rise to their head and everything around them to spin, nearly toppling them over.   
  
Lilline kept them from falling and let them down on the ground gently to regain composure. Marin still felt everything around them swirl uncomfortably until it became a small aura, with images of their melting arm still terrifying them as they kept it behind their back trying to avoid seeing it again.   
  
Everything was too intense, it was too much, but they couldn’t escape. All they could do is sit and hope it’ll all go away eventually. Unfortunately, Val had more to say.   
  
“Tenta represents everything the Octoling Society should fight against: succumbing to the enemy and changing our way of life. Is this what you all desire? Allying Inklings? What’s next, breeding with them? ”   
  
Everything went silent. All that could be heard was the distance creaks of metal objects in the ruins breaking down and falling into the abyss below the floating islands. No one dared to say a word until one octoling sheepishly rose her hand into the air.   
  
“W-why do you say ‘Octoling society’ then ‘Octarian society?’” Lilline spoke up, standing next to where Marin sat.   
  
Her expression held the same innocent concern as a small child who was unaware of what the world at large had in store for them but could still feel something was wrong. Marin’s heartbeat jolted. They worried over possible outcomes that would happen with this kid interrupting Val. Despite their arm, they’d be ready to tear down the elite so much as she lays a finger on Lilline.   
  
Finally, the elite spoke, unknowing to the chaos that would unfold with their next sentence.   
  
“Octarians are inferior compared to Octolings. They cannot perform the same tasks we can, thus they are useless to us. Their mental processing power is low and they lack-”   
  
Before she could finish her sentence, a spark of outcry shot through the crowd of octolings as disgust couldn’t contain itself within them any further.   
  
“You’re out of your mind!”, “My father is an octotrooper!”, “They’re our family and you’re suggesting we abandon them?!” rang from the crowd in droves, relentlessly shutting her down. Despite all her yelling, she couldn’t get them to settle to her liking or to listen to her further. It was impossible.   
  
She made brief eye contact with Marin and they scowled at her, prompting her to head back to her bunker in a hurry before the crowd grew even more unruly. Whatever it is that happens to her after this, she deserves it all. Marin concluded, shaking their head. It’s useless trying to reason with her, so unless these people fight back, we’ll still have to deal with her.   
  
“Marin, we should take you to the nurse for your arm,” Lilline piped up, concern in her voice.   
  
Why this little girl suddenly cared about Marin was a mystery to them.   
  
“Yeah yeah, one minute.”   
  
“But it’s going to get worse if you leave it like this!”   
  
“I know, but I have important things to do first. It won’t take long.”   
  
Lilline sighed, likely in frustration. Something about her reminded Marin of Tenta before the young octoling had completely settled into military life. Hopeful innocence, compassion, and stubbornness was strong in Tenta but nearly washed away as time went on, and they wondered if the same would happen to Lilline. So far, she was only here for a week, fresh into the age of her full humanoid form and still getting used to having abilities like the use of fingers.   
  
The fact that she was so young and even here at all disgusted Marin. Octavio has long been since captured and yet, the military division for some ungodly reason still felt it necessary to draft in more people -- scratch that, literal children and have them serve on the basis that there’d be some directionless push towards taking back the zapfish.   
  
“I’m gonna stay right here, then. I’ll help you to the nurse when you come back,” Lilline cut in, interrupting Marin’s thoughts. Marin nodded and headed off, not before thanking the young girl.   
  
They noticed the attitude of the camp had changed, the chattering was now on edge and anger brewed in the octolings who were still disgusted at Val’s implications.   
  
As Marin walked holding their injured arm in the other, they noticed a huge crowd in front of them talking simultaneously and squabbling in fear. Octolings were pushed out of the way as Marin tried to slide in and see what the commotion was about, and in the heart of the crowd stood Goofball, the only other elite in the camp.   
  
The elite looked back and forth frantically, continuously trying to answer questions that hit them 100 miles per hour and cries of anguish whipped past them as they stood. Marin tapped them on the shoulder.   
  
“Oh, hey, uh. Bad time,” Goofball responded.   
  
“I need to speak with you, it’s imperative.” Marin said firmly.   
  
“No offense but can it wait? Like, isn’t it obvious that I’m the fan favorite in the organization of Doomsday Incorporated?”   
  
“...What?”   
  
“That metaphor didn’t quite work out as well as I thought it would…”   
  
“Listen, just.”   
  
Marin took them by the arm and led them away from the crowd, ignoring the others’ cries of protest. Marin figured Goofball would have the answers they needed to any sightings of Agent 3 since they were the last one to do a scoping of the domes. They both headed into the empty barracks and stood one on one only hearing the sounds of the commotion from outside.   
  
“You haven’t seen Tenta, right?” Marin asked.   
  
Goofball nodded.   
  
“What about Agent 3?”   
  
“I haven’t seen them either,” they responded. “Do you think they… Died? Because of Val?”   
  
Marin shook their head. “They did end up regaining consciousness, no parts of their body Val beat down on started to lose shape like my arm has.”   
  
“Wait, what do you mean like your arm has- OH SWEET LORD!” Goofball jumped back in horror at Marin’s misconfigured arm and turned green, looking away from the other octoling. Marin rolled their eyes.   
  
“Y-you should get that looked at, Marin,” Goofball commented. “The higher ups would probably burst a vessel looking at it…”   
  
“Yeah, I know. But are you saying that so you won’t have to get in trouble or do you actually care about my well-being?”   
  
The elite paused.   
  
“...Yes?”   
  
“Whatever, you’re free to go back to the ‘Doomsday Incorporated’ fanclub and deal with their screaming. I’m going to the infirmary.”   
  
Goofball looked on as Marin left the barracks. They looked back over to the crowd and dreaded whatever it is they’ll have to deal with once returning to the area, and instead of going back out, they sat themself on one of the beds and ignored the world outside in hopes it’d eventually go away. It didn’t, and never will, but the quietness of the barracks was their solace to it all.   
  
Marin found Lilline where they left her and let the young girl escort them to the outside of the infirmary. Their arm had started to regain its shape, but it’d still need to undergo a check to make sure it won’t start decompiling again later. As Lilline began to leave, she looked Marin in the eye.   
  
“If you can, please don’t let Val hurt anyone. I k-know you’re the one who got hurt here, but you’re the strongest out of anyone. I can’t protect anyone…” She pleaded.   
  
Marin nodded.   
  
“I’ll try,” they said. “So long as you try to help anyone who gets hurt.”   
  
“I will!”   
  
Marin smiled. “That’s the spirit, kid.”   
  
Whether or not Marin could protect anyone against Val was lost on them as it didn’t matter. They’d have to try considering that there’d be people in the camp vulnerable to her actions the same way Tenta was, and they couldn’t have anyone go through worse. Looking back down on their arm, they realized Val has definitely gotten stronger than they remembered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Changes:  
> \- I removed Val's original speech that was rooted in transphobia because I feel that's not my place to write about considering I'm not a trans woman and I experience transphobia differently as a nonbinary person. There's also the fact that I was venting about how I was treated in regards to how I identified back then as a trans masculine nonbinary person and faced transphobia in one of the places I frequented, with graphic threats as well. Since I'm a fem aligned nb lesbian now, I've decided to remove this allegory since it really doesn't apply to me nor is it my place to write about, and it didn't apply to me originally either since Tenta is a trans woman. Val is mainly disgusted by Tenta's attitude towards inklings now. I apologize greatly for how I originally wrote it. Thank you.


	11. Reconciliations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UPDATE: 4/1/2018  
> ...I accidentally gave Green Team 5 teammates instead of 4 and it took me too long to realize that. Oops.
> 
> Hey back at it with another chapter!

Music blared across the map as the turf war teams entered their loading stations. It was the all-familiar blackbelly skate park which was brightly lit by the clear skies from above, despite the cold weather. The ramps and towers of the map couldn’t help but to remind Grii of an obstacle course rather than a standard skate park, and she wondered how that’d affect her plays since she hasn’t practiced in this area in the slightest.

As far as she knew, every new roller user complained about this map; it was tricky to climb the walls considering a roller swing takes longer to hit terrain compared to a standard gun’s fire, as well as the advantage gun users had with longer ranges.

Grii sighed. She turned and faced Ann and Quinn who were spectating on the sidelines with jellyfish and other inklings, cheering at her to do her best and win. Grii gave a tiny wave in return as her mind trailed to how well the rest of her team can perform in this area or how well they’d perform in general since she was solo queueing. To top it all off, she’ll have to figure out how to make it look like she learned some professional moves. She really hoped her team wouldn’t mind her experimenting.

The countdown hit zero and music from the _Squid Squad_ band blared across the map signaling to the athletes it was go-time. A shot from the green team’s charger lined a trail in the middle leading Grii to take the opportunity to swim to the center point of the map.

“Hey! Why aren’t you inking the spawn?!” called a splattershot jr. to Grii rather obnoxiously. They walked through the dip in the starting area, inking the area around the zone in a hurry.

“I’ll ink spawn after I get splatted!” Grii called in return.

“Seriously?!”

Grii could feel the rest of her team’s judgemental stares from behind her, but she didn’t care. They were all a lower level than her, thus they were inexperienced and really had no team direction compared to other players. The Jr.’s distant yelling only caused Grii to grunt in response as she situated herself on top of the center pillar with another teammate.

Grii glanced at them and found they were the girl she was inspecting on the roster before the match began; the name was lost on her, but she definitely recognized the girl’s pale face and magenta eyes. Her gear set-up included: a Takoroka mesh cap, which sat on her head in a sideways manner; a red tee, looking freshly ironed and completely wrinkle free; and black seahorse shoes, giving her clothing a carefully put together flair.

In the teammate’s hand was an Aerospray RG, a golden weapon that can cover a lot of ground within the span of a few seconds and was considered the new “hot” weapon for turfing, which outclassed the splat roller (but not the Krak-On, which Grii was using.) It’s sub-weapon, the inkmine, didn’t really seem all that useful to Grii considering how easy she could spot it. Regardless, the teammate put down the mine where they both stood.

To her surprise, the teammate made eye contact with her and winked.

Grii’s heart skipped a beat --

**_Pwof!_ **

And suddenly she found herself at spawn, recovering from a charger shot that blasted her off the middle of the map.

 _What just happened?!_ She thought.

She shook herself, trying to clear her head from whatever caused her to lose focus.

“Hey, Grii!” called Quinn from the audience. “You shouldn’t be checking out girls in the middle of the match!”

Grii turned as red as a beet and yelled. “S-shut up!”

Her ski jacket turned into a sauna wrapped around her body as her embarrassment rose to her ears. Attempting to keep her cool, she whipped back her roller and jumped straight into the ink, ignoring the Jr. that continued to whine about the lack of ink on home turf despite most of it already being covered.

Pink Team made a significant push towards Green Team’s base with their shooters in the front lines and their charger behind. The less fortunate green inklings were continuously being cornered and picked off one by one, never leaving an opportunity for their special weapons to charge or even get past the base’s ramp.

“Something about this really isn’t working…” mumbled the charger, missing every other shot and only doing minimal damage towards the other team.

“We wouldn’t have this problem if _someone_ inked!! The!! Base!!” screeched the splattershot jr. like a broken record, pacing around the spawn pad filling every corner that had so much as a drop of enemy ink.

The aerospray girl just shook her head and tried her best to combat as much enemy fire as she could.

Grii needed to figure out a way to lessen the Pink Team’s push or at least lower their numbers significantly before time ran out. There was still a minute and a half left in the match, just enough time to make an effort to pull the team together. Her attention was brought to the aerospray’s line of fire against the enemy’s splattershot and in that moment she realized…

_That’s it._

She dove in from behind the aerospray and swam through the green ink that splashed against the turf. As she did so, she swerved to avoid any enemy fire that came her way. Using the aerospray’s ink as a leverage, she got in closer range of the enemy splattershot to the point where she could see the barrel of their weapon. Faster than a bullet, she shot out of the ink and swung her roller; hitting the splattershot square in the face and instantly splatting them.

There was a wave silence across the map.

Everyone stopped firing-- except for the splattershot jr.-- and the audience didn’t speak a word. Grii registered that her on-the-spot splat worked, much to her own surprise, and she stood up straight catching a glance of the aerospray behind her. The girl’s eyes were as large as saucers.

She whispered, “You’re amazing.”

Grii’s face grew hotter than normal.

“Did you guys see that?!” came from someone in the audience and waves of impressed cheers filtered throughout the stand. Grii nearly got distracted in the heat of the moment until the aerospray lightly tapped her shoulder (it felt so nice?)

“Let’s keep doing that,” her eyes sparkled. “We still have some time left in the match.”

Grii nodded, words somehow not working for her.

Grouping up, they continued to use the new strategy to their advantage while the charger had an easier time picking off people on the enemy team and the splattershot jr. finally left the base.

Each time the duo landed the splat, the audience would cheer, clearly favoring the two inklings. Grii’s name was cheered in succession from the audience in rhythmic waves; not just by her friends, but by complete strangers as well. Her heart swelled; she’s never been cheered on like this before, not even when she was with--

She got splatted again as soon as her mind wandered.

Grii’s strategy wasn’t completely foolproof: her shots either missed or she swam directly into enemy fire while trying to implement it, even when she tried her hardest to keep focus on the match. Fortunately, the aerospray’s inkmine would successfully finish off unsuspecting enemies who’d try to come near her to thwart her.

The remaining 30 seconds felt unreasonably fast and the match ended before a blink of an eye, halting every turfer in place as the sound of the whistle filled the skate park. It took Grii a second to realize the match had actually ended and she hoped no one noticed that she forgot to stop her roller, which would ultimately result in a forfeit had she spilled any more ink. She removed the connection from her weapon to the ink tank and compressed the roller to its travel size, putting it in her pocket and tucking it away.

All the match participants put their weapons away in their bags and gathered to the center of the map where the official turf referee stood.

As she walked, Grii looked over her shoulder and found that the aerospray girl was following her, causing Grii to turn a shade of red for a reason she couldn’t find.

Up on the tower stood Judd, looking down on the inklings with his flags behind his back and met gazes with everyone there. He breathed in just to add anticipation to the already stressed players-- which he especially loved to do after really intense matches-- and firmly spoke.

“Mrow. [And the winning team of this round is…]”

Time slowed down as everyone waited for Judd to raise a flag, anticipation gripping and running through every sea-creature there.

At the raise of his paw came the flag. Stunned silence spread across everyone as the results came into view, completely baffling anyone who took a gaze at it as if it were a UFO in clear view of Inkopolis Plaza.

The flag was pink.

“Mrow. [Pink Team.]”

Pink Team had won by one-tenth of a percent.

Grii heavily breathed out the air she didn’t know she held in and turned around, ignoring the chattering cheers coming from the other team and shouts of protest from her own. She slipped away, attempting to avoid further attention of the crowd.

She was used to losing, it was a normal part of turf wars, but somehow this loss stung more than normal making her heart sink past her stomach. Disappointment covered it in an extra layer of acid and dissolved the previous excitement that she felt during the match; all the cheers and encouragement became meaningless. They were _so_ close despite starting from nothing yet it still amounted to-

“Hey!”

Grii turned around and found the face of the aerospray from her team. The teammate smiled warmly, causing Grii’s heart-rate to increase to a much higher tempo than what she was used to.

“H-hey,” Grii stammered, glancing around. Ann and Quinn weren’t anywhere to be found much to her relief. Being on the receiving end of more teasing wasn’t ideal in the slightest, especially since she was already teased about simply just… Inspecting this girl.

“So, I heard you were checking me out in the middle of the match?” the aerospray giggled, giving her a mischievous grin.

Grii tripped on her words like a bump in the sidewalk.

“N-no! I was just seeing what y-your gear was and-”

“Hey hey, it’s okay! I was just playing around,” the girl gave Grii a light tap on her shoulder, making it hard for her to resist the urge to scream. “I came over to say you did a great job, your skills are impressive! But I-I was also wondering…”

She shifted in place with a light blush glowing on her face, rubbing the back of her head in a coyly manner and looked off to the side, avoiding Grii’s eyes.

“...would you like to go on a date with me?”

Grii’s heart stopped.

“U-um… I’m sorry,” she frowned. “I can’t.”

“Why?”

“I’m not attracted to girls.”

The words slipped out of her mouth like bitter molasses. She wasn’t entirely sure about it, she knew it, but she couldn’t raise someone’s hopes up just to break their heart later on.

“Oh.”

Grii’s heart sank upon the look of disappointment that formed on the girl’s face, but she knew it was for the best. She muttered an apology without bothering to hear the girl’s further response and shifted out of the skatepark, eventually teleporting back into the plaza through the automatic doors.

She wondered if she’d ever fall in love again. _Probably not._ Was she ever even in love in the first place? She sighed. It didn’t matter, what was done was done.

“Grii, that was amazing!”

A voice rang from behind her prompting her to turn around, finding Ann and Quinn sprinting to catch up with her. Grii tried to conceal her inner conflict and her face contorted in an ambiguous shape; a weird way to hide her lament but it was close enough.

“I’m not sure how that strategy would benefit anyone other than rollers,” Ann admitted. “But if it works for you, I’m glad you learned it. It was really impressive and I’m sure you would have won with a better team.”

“Yeah, it was awesome!” Quinn butted in as usual. “Keep learning how to do stuff like that and you’ll carry us to the big leagues!”

Grii smiled, feeling their praise make her beam from the inside. _The big leagues,_ she thought, _Maybe I can be good enough to get there._

“Thanks, guys,” she smiled. “I’ll keep practicing.”

* * *

 

Grii plopped her bag next to the door to her house and trudged upstairs, feeling the weight of fatigue catch up with her. She entered her bedroom and jumped onto her bed, ignoring the usual mess around her. As tired as she was, she couldn’t find the ability to sleep. It was impossible to stop thinking about the girl from earlier and the fact that someone even wanted to _date_ Grii _._

She lay facing the ceiling, staring at nothing in particular then remembered that she didn’t see or hear Tenta when she had entered through the front door. Sitting up, she saw that the octoling was neatly tucked into the guest bed at the other side of the room. The covers shuffled and Tenta lifted herself up, stretching her arms in the air.

She resembled something close to an awaking sea-slug; she looked soft and comfortable on the guest bed and had a bit of a spark to her. Grii figured she probably caught up on the sleep she missed the day before and the lack thereof from the previous night; it was always hard to sleep in an unfamiliar place, so she must have been just as exhausted.

Tenta shifted her gaze to Grii, seemingly unphased as far as the inkling could tell. The metallic goggles gave her the emotional range of a robot and made her seem as cold as one too; a shell of a person. Tenta only gave a head tilt of acknowledgment, which was a pretty common gesture of her from Grii’s observation. Does her neck ever get tired of doing it that often? Who knows.

“How was your day?” Grii asked. It was such an awkward question that she’d rather have her beak pulled out than to ask it, but she did anyway since it was the only way she could think of breaking the ice. Really, how did she expect the octoling to answer considering there wasn’t much to do inside her house? Grii doubted Tenta would have an interest in what she owns considering the lack of interest in _her_.

“It was fine, I slept,” Tenta commented.

The last thing Grii expected Tenta to do was pick up a _Petty Kraken_ cookbook and start sorting through the pages intently. She sat back with her eyes (she had eyes, right?) glued to a page with cakes and a variety of them, some with fruits as well as others with a few vegetables (carrots being put into a cake was quite baffling to Grii.)

 _She must be bored out of her mind,_ Grii thought.

“If you want to bake something, I could get some ingredients for you from the store,” Grii offered.

Tenta shook her head.

“It’s fine,” she replied. “I’m unsure as to what I’d like to bake in the first place.”

“Is it hard to read with those goggles on?”

“No.”

“Oh, well-”

“Can I ask you a question?”

Grii wasn’t expecting that in the slightest, but she nodded.

“Yeah, sure.”

“How do you pronounce this word?”

Tenta gestured for Grii to come to her side of the room and Grii complied, sitting next to her on the guest bed and reading over her shoulder. Tenta’s finger was pointed to the word ‘rhubarb’ in the recipe ‘Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.’

“It’s pronounced, ‘roo-barb’,” Grii said.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“What the heck?”

Grii laughed.

“Why are you laughing?” Tenta asked, seemingly offended.

“Honestly, I can relate to that,” she smiled. “Pronunciation of certain words is just really weird sometimes.”

“It should be spelled how it sounds,” Tenta whined.

“I know, I know.”

They sat together looking through the recipe book while Grii tried to describe how each dish tasted as well as teaching Tenta the pronunciation of unfamiliar words, prompting bantering and laughing from the two. Describing the taste to someone raised on concentrated foods proved difficult to Grii, thus she came to the conclusion that she’d have to make a quality dessert for the two of them to share sometime.

She turned to a page with a recipe titled ‘Sweet Heart Tarts’ and nearly recoiled, remembering the day’s previous event.

“What’s this one?” Tenta asked.

“Oh, it’s a dessert that couples usually bake for each other. It’s kind of sweet I think? You can use different berries as a filling. I like strawberries in mine.”

Tenta looked back at the picture, admiring the delectable pastry base shaped into a heart with different colored fillings. One blue, one red, one pink, and many other colors. A dollop of whip-cream topped the dessert giving it an extra sense of passion, much like the tender care and affection involved in a relationship. She smiled.

“It looks very cute.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever been given one, though…”

“Perhaps you will someday, if that’s what you desire.”

Grii nodded, thinking about her missed chance to fulfill this wish earlier in the day. Of course, it’d mean more than a pastry, but she didn’t want to think about that.

But, maybe it was time she should start; start allowing herself to heal and move on.

“Tenta?”  Grii asked.

“Hm?”

“You said I was probably attracted to girls, right?”

“What about it?”

“How would I know?”

Tenta paused, then looked Grii in the eye with her goggles. She inhaled, trying to gather her thoughts.

“Well, you kind of just… When you see someone and you can’t help but to think how wonderful they look, they say something to you and butterflies fly around in your stomach, and you don’t know what to do with yourself if your hands touch with theirs just a little. That’s what attraction can feel like. If you only feel that way about girls…”

“I- Oh. Oh…”

Tenta blushed and twirled one of her tentacles out of embarrassment.

“I read it in a book, but I have felt it before. I’ve just never been in a relationship with someone, so don’t give me all the credit…”

Grii didn’t respond. Instead, her eyes met the ceiling and she couldn’t speak. _That’s what that was?_ She thought. _That’s what I’ve been feeling this whole time?_

“I feel stupid,” Grii blurted out.

Tenta tilted her head.

“Why?”

“A cute girl asked me out today but I turned her down, saying I wasn’t attracted to girls. But I am, and I’m so stupid. I’m a lesbian and I’m so dumb.”

“Maybe you can find her again?”

Grii shook her head.

“Inkopolis is too big. Turf wars are really popular. I don’t think I’d run into the same person twice.”

“Well, there’ll always someone else.”

“I guess so,” Grii mumbled. “You know, this kind of explains my dream with Sentira I think. Explains why she’s a girl.”

Tenta nodded. “It’d be weird if you had that dream and weren’t interested in girls.”

“I thought it didn’t mean anything since it wasn’t the first time I’ve dreamt about a girl like that.”

“Then your brain was definitely trying to tell you something.”

Grii lied back on the bed, ignoring the fact that her side was in close contact with Tenta’s. Grii also tried to ignore the fact that Tenta’s skin felt soft.

 _Maybe that wasn’t all that my brain was trying to tell me,_ Grii thought.

“Do you think Sentira could be real?”

Tenta paused for an awfully long time, stiffening up as she stared straight in front of her.

“She could be, some dreams are prophetic I suppose.”

“The girl from today looked nothing like her…”

“Don’t depend on finding her by appearance alone, you’ll spend centuries trying to look for her exact likeness.”

Grii sat up to object.

“Most of her features were vague, though! Really, the only thing I can think of looking for _specifically_ are her seafoam green eyes!”

Tenta’s mouth twitched briefly, and she looked back down on the cookbook in her hands.

“Don’t go looking at everyone’s eyes, then. Be patient,” Tenta ordered.

Grii squinted at her in irritance, but it did nothing as Tenta kept her face in the book, avoiding any kind of eye contact. Grii’s irritation quickly faded, though, as she went back into thought about her newfound discovery about herself; it would have saved her time and heartbreak had she known about it much earlier, but it didn’t matter. In fact, it could mean an opportunity to be able to open up much better now that she’s learned.

She looked forward to meeting Sentira, despite Tenta’s advice about ‘being patient.’ How long she had to wait meant nothing to her, so long as she’ll be able to find her.


	12. Tired Trust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really have much to say for this chapter, so just enjoy~
> 
> EDIT 7/21/2018: Modified dialogue

“So, Agent 3,” he began, sitting in his usual office chair by the radio on a small desk, next to a lamp that was shut off as it was too bright in the day for its use. He patiently tapped his cup of fresh coffee and stared into the distance contemplatively. It was a nice day in Octo Valley, not too terribly foggy, and the weather cleared up considerably since the past few days of rain.

He took a sip of the drink, ignoring the excess drips that came off his beard as he wasn’t a neat drinker-- clearly used to that fact-- and stared Agent 3 in the eye with a weary droopiness that let his face fall to the Earth like raindrops from the previous days. The young Agent stared back at him with no expression as an attempt to conceal their impatience. He surely was taking his time talking to them.

“Have you found this uh, missing girl yet? It’s been over a week, now,” he continued, concern causing his voice to tremble ever so slightly.

“I haven’t, Cap’n,” Agent 3 shook their head. “But, there’s been no missing reports for her either. I assume she’s back somewhere in Inkopolis.”

Cap’n Cuttlefish hummed in acknowledgment, turning his head to look Agent 3 in the eye.

“Do you think that Octarians took her in for questioning, wiped her memory, then sent her back in? I haven’t seen an outcry relating to them,” he inquired, taking another sip of his coffee.

“I doubt they have the technology for that,” Agent 3 explained. “And last I remember, I think she passed out as she was being carried by that octoling, if that helps.”

“They must’ve dropped her off in the city, then, before she had the chance to wake up.”

Agent 3 looked at him like he grew a second head.

“  _ Why? _ ”

“Well, it could be a final act of defiance if it’s that same rogue octoling. ‘Betraying’ their kind by helping an inkling seems like a possibility. If that’s the case, then surely that octoling must still be roaming the city, unable to return to the valley as they’ll face punishment.”

Despite his body language, Cuttlefish spoke calmly, worry-free. It made Agent 3 question whether or not he actually cared about this issue considering his inquisitive nature and non-aggression towards octarians despite their threats toward Inkopolis. The worst he’s called them is “octo jerks” and that didn’t really seem as negatively charged as it could be.

Agent 3 knew how they felt about them; they were aggressive, territorial, and apathetic creatures . Not to be reasoned with. One could currently be wreaking havoc in the city, trying to hurt an inkling or two, and that wasn’t acceptable.

“What should I do about this situation, then?”

“I suggest you keep an eye on this young girl, once you find her, and search the city for the rogue octoling,” he said. “If you get the chance, talk to the girl, ask her what she knows. As for the octoling, capture them and bring them here as soon as possible. We can’t have a threat like that in the city.”

Agent 3 nodded.

“I forgot to mention,” Cuttlefish cut in. “Agent 1 and 2 should be doing a scope on the city at night from now on. Think of it as a ‘patrol’ to keep younggin’s from slipping into Octo Valley without supervision,” he winked. “It’s uh, been a bit of an issue lately.”

“I can imagine,” Agent 3 mumbled.

“Oh, I just remembered, let me ask Octavio what he thinks.”

Cap’n Cuttlefish lifted himself off the chair and crawled himself over to the giant snow globe that stood next to the shack. Using his free hand, he tapped the glass of the delicate prison and the large, unruly octopus blinked its eyes open grumpily.

“What do you want?!” He grumbled, nearly shouting.

“Yes, hello!” Cap n’ responded cheerfully.

The washed up king narrowed his eyes.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Octavio growled. “What do you want?”

“Yes, I was wondering, have your scientists come up with a device that’s fully capable of erasing memories?”

Octavio narrowed his eyes until they were just slits in his head.

“No. What are we? Aliens?” he replied sarcastically. “Have inklings come up with a device that makes them a little less insufferable?”

Cuttlefish smiled. “Unfortunately, no. But it’s quite funny coming from someone who used to spend his time around them a lot…”

“Shut your mouth before I slap bass you into the next millennia.”

The old inkling let out a hearty chuckle and gently tapped the snow globe with his palm, ignoring Octavio’s cries of protest to not touch the glass. Agent 3 raised their eyebrows at this exchange, but they figured it was something they weren’t in on and decided to ignore the bickering old men.

* * *

 

Grii’s eyes gently pried open as she sat up, letting out a small groan while stretching after waking up from the previous night’s slumber. Sunlight shone through the window at the other side of the room, lighting the bed that lay up against the wall to the point of white sheets blinding anyone who lay their eyes on it. The bed however, was empty, since Tenta must’ve woken up, which wasn’t unusual since she never slept past dawn even though she takes multiple naps throughout the day.

Despite living in the house for a week already, Grii didn’t really know that much about her. She was quiet, never seemed to really have a preference for what food she ate (she gave up on reading the cookbook and she’d only cook eggs), and didn’t like to talk about her home life at all.

Conversations weren’t much either, Grii would ask her how she was feeling, she’d reply “fine,” and that’d be that. The most they’ve ever talked was when they sat on the bed looking through the cookbook. After that, Grii had mostly given up, it was too much work trying to engage with a shut in.

Instead, she focused on improving her turfing techniques she had come up with a week prior. It was still a work in progress and her friends started losing patience-- it wasn’t enough to counteract the lack of turfing done across the map, and having an additional blaster or charger player on their team was a death sentence. Yet, Grii simply bit her tongue and continued to try to hone her own skills.

She hopped out of bed and walked to her closet, preparing which clothes she’d wear for the day. Normally she’d wear her usual gear, but it was a Sunday and turf stadiums are closed that day of the week. A heavy jacket with boots and goggles didn’t seem practical for everyday wear.

Thick bundles of clothes were thrown on the ground as she sorted through the drawers in her shelf, looking for a decent clothing set.

Why do I have so many clothes?

She pulled a forest green polo shirt over her head, put on a pair of shorts, and called it good. Shoes didn’t seem necessary as she wasn’t planning on leaving the house, so she left them to sit on top of her shelf.

As she sorted through a drawer to find a comfortable pair of socks to wear, she heard a distinct-- and utterly strange-- tapping on her window. Much like a cat, her ears perked up and she turned around, trying to determine what it was that disturbed her daily routine.

She cautiously approached the other side of the room, arrived at the window sill, and lifted the window open. When she stuck out her head, there was nothing in sight with exception of the usual empty suburban neighborhood, until a sudden flash of white burst through the window and startled her, causing her to fall back and land on the ground.

Grii sprung up, panicking at the loud shuffling and knocking that blew across her room in a frenzy. Her eyes caught sight of a white bird causing as much chaos as it could with a whirlwind through all her possessions.

“Hey, cool it!” She barked.

The bird did as commanded and landed right at her feet, giving her the same vacant stare it had given her the first time they met. Grii squinted her eyes disapprovingly at Amie until she noticed that she had a note in her mouth, to her surprise. It was a small envelope with a tiny red ribbon attached, not unlike the kind of letters that one would receive in the primitive technology ages. It was wrapped up quite cutely.

“Hey there,” She cooed, kneeling to the ground and sticking her hand out. “Do you mind giving that to me?”

Amie tilted her head.

“Come on, if it’s for Tenta I can just give it to her,” Grii smiled.

Amie straightened her neck.

“Please?”

Instead of handing Grii the note, Amie pecked her hand and took flight through the crack of the door and into the hallway.

“Oh my god, you stupid bird!” Grii screeched, rubbing her hand in anger. “Come back and give me that letter!”

Grii ran down the stairs and through the hallway, stomping loudly with every quick step she took. She could barely see the bird as she ran to catch it and ended up bumping into several objects in the process.

Entering the kitchen, she found Amie had settled herself onto the table and was in the process of receiving scritches on her head with the letter gone from her mouth. The bird cooed softly with each stroke of her feathers and nuzzled against the gentle hand that provided affection.

Grii glanced up and found Tenta reading from a sheet of paper. She didn’t seem to notice her at all, from what Grii could tell, until she said-

“Do you have a sheet of paper and a pencil?”

It took a second for the words to register in Grii’s head.

“What does the letter say?”

Tenta looked her in the eyes, folded the letter neatly, and set it on the table.

“That’s not really your business,” Tenta muttered.

“It is if it’s something from your godfather. Like, the status of Octo Valley and you going home. That sort of thing.”

“Well, I suppose that’s true.”

Awkward silence filled the room as Tenta neglected to give information about the letter and Grii felt herself grow impatient.

“Well?” Grii tapped her foot.

“It’s mostly personal, but the gist of what you need to know is that he’s in contact with most of Octo Valley right now.”

“Why?”

“To convince them to try and immigrate to Inkopolis as refugees.”

“What’s he saying to them?”

“I know as much as you do.”

Grii raised an eyebrow and sat at the other side of the table. Her solution she decided, was to ignore how frustrating it was talking to Tenta. She paid no mind to Amie-- the bird was ignoring her in favor of Tenta and Grii much preferred it that way.

She looked again at Tenta and wondered how she felt that way she did about her in Octo Valley. Back then, she thought of Tenta as someone she could be friends with, but here she was closed off and didn’t do small talk at all.

Perhaps now it’d be a good time to get to the bottom of it.

“Tenta-”

“Are you planning on bringing me the paper and pencil?”

Grii snorted irritatedly.

“Can it wait?”

Tenta stared at her, not so much as flinching. “Please bring it to me.”

“Actually, I was about to talk to you about something.”

“What?”

“You’re… Quiet, you know that? Like ever since you came here you haven’t said much to me.”

“Because I don’t want to talk.”

Grii furrowed her brow angrily.

“ Why? ”

Tenta didn’t answer. Instead, she rose from her seat with Amie in one hand and the letter in the other, walking away from the table and towards the doorway.

Before she could leave, Grii ran up and grabbed her by the arm, yanking her back into the room.

“I’ve been trying to, you know, find out more about you since you’re staying here!? But here you’re just closing yourself off!” She yelled in frustration. “Why are you isolating yourself like this?! What’s the point?! Trying to talk to you is like talking to a wall and I’m sick of it! What’s wrong with you?!”

“Let. go. of. me,” Tenta interrupted her, the words coming out with whispers as sharp as icicles and sending chills down Grii’s spine.

Grii’s face grew hot as she lowered her head in shock, taken aback by the grim tone of Tenta’s voice. She let go of her arm and stepped away, realizing she had completely lost her temper and snapped at Tenta, making her feel sick to her stomach.

Before Grii could apologize, Tenta took a deep breath.

“I don’t think you understand what I’m going through,” Tenta muttered, her voice shaking. She turned her head to look back at Grii, and in that moment Grii realized there were tears running down her face below the goggles that obstructed it.

“I’m terrified. I don’t feel safe. Jin is trying his best to make it so I can return home but all of it feels hopeless. He said he’s u-unsure how long it’d be before I can go back. It’s not like the military will just forget about me!” she explained, blurting everything out frantically.

“I’m an outsider to my own home, even back before I was drafted in! Being there was torture but there’s nowhere for me to go at all! I’m so alone! I-I-”

Her words became indistinguishable cries and Grii felt her heart tear in two. Guilt dropped like a rock in her stomach as Tenta doubled over in sobs, lying on the ground by her knees while Amie took flight off to somewhere else.

Instead of saying anything, Grii sat on the ground in front of Tenta. She waited, shame swirling inside her chest as her gaze stared ahead. Comforting Tenta didn’t feel acceptable and Grii knew that doing so wouldn’t be helpful at all.

Tenta eventually sat up as her sobs faded, looking away from Grii and not saying a single word to her.

They sat still for awhile and the only sound that could be heard was the hum of the technology in Grii’s house as well as Amie’s occasional chirping. Otherwise, it was completely quiet in the house.

Grii hesitated. She wasn’t sure if Tenta would listen to her at all at this point, and she had good reason not to. Still, she needed to apologize for letting her impatience get the best of her. She glanced up and took in a breath.

“I’m so so sorry,” Grii whispered. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you at all.”

Tenta didn’t respond.

“And really, I just… There’s no excuses for my outburst. I let my frustration act out instead of being more understanding of what’s going on with you.”

Tenta still didn’t respond, but Grii continued on anyway.

“Maybe it’s because I was reminded of how I was after I got out of really toxic relationship. I didn’t want to talk to anyone, I shut myself out, a lot of people grew frustrated with me and I lost a lot of friends. I was so angry at myself since everyone else was angry at me, so that pent up anger just…” She sighed.

“I’m not saying this to justify what I’ve done, I’m saying it to let you know that I’ve been in a similar situation,” she breathed. “An abusive environment, yeah? It’s messed up, it really is. I just want you to know that I don’t want you to feel like I’ve used to feel, even if we don’t know each other that well.”

To Grii’s surprise, Tenta looked back up at her.

“...I’m still not happy with you,” Tenta started, “But, I... I accept your apology and I can probably forgive you, so long as you can prove to me that I can trust you. Maybe we could learn more about each other too…”

Grii helped Tenta up to her feet.

"I hope we can try to get along," Grii admitted. "I'll make sure you can trust me, too."

Tenta nodded in understanding.

“I can get you the pencil and paper now,” Grii said.

“Okay,” Tenta murmured.

Grii mumbled awkwardly as she sorted through the drawers of the kitchen, looking for a pencil. She couldn’t remember where she put the last one she used since she just picks a new one out of a box every time she had to write. This time, the pencil box was empty.

“You must be bored a lot, right?” Grii asked.

“Yeah.”

“What did you like to do for fun? I remember you saying you liked to read?”

“Yeah, a-and cooking too sometimes.”

“Huh, reading...”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing, I’m just not a huge fan of it.”

“What?!”

“Yeah, I never really had the patience to stick to one book. Short attention span and all.”

Tenta didn’t really say anything in response, so Grii assumed she was watching her look around for the pencil.

“What genre do you like?” Grii asked.

“I like to read romance stories,” Tenta said.

Grii slapped down a pencil on the counter a little too ecstatically.

“Okay! I’ll get you some books!”

Tenta looked at her like she was from another planet.

“Aren’t books expensive?” She asked.

“No? Well, not here at least.”

“Huh.”

Finding a piece of paper was easier since Grii just took a piece from the stack that stood next to the printer in the kitchen. She picked up a sheet and handed it to Tenta with the pencil she found, feeling the warmth of her hands.

“I’ll leave you to write,” Grii said.

Tenta nodded. “I think I’d like some space for a few hours, too.”

“That’s fine, I’ll be upstairs if you need me.”

Grii exited the kitchen, but not before glancing behind her and seeing Amie nuzzle herself onto Tenta’s shoulder.

Grii plopped herself onto her bed, unsure what to do for the remainder of the day. Going out and getting a few books for Tenta was on her mind, so she planned that for a few hours later.

She wondered what her friends were up to, so she checked her phone and found a notification from her cousin.

Tint (2:37 pm):

Hey :o

Grii (3:10 pm):

Yo

Tint (3:11 pm):

I heard ur gay

Grii (3:11 pm):

>:0 who told you???

Tint (3:11 pm):

LMAO

Tint (3:11 pm):

Your pals B)

Grii (3:11 pm):

what the fudge. why?

Tint (3:12 pm):

*shrugs* i think it just slipped out. also i saw u looking at a girl during a match the other day heheh

Grii (3:13 pm):

>:O

Tint (3:12 pm):

anyway we havent like, met up in awhile?

Grii (3:13 pm):

Not really.. Ive been kind of busy lately

Tint (3:13 pm):

Wanna get lunch on saturday?

Grii thought about it.

Grii (3:17 pm):

Ye sure. Ur buying tho

Tint (3:17 pm):

Mmmm…… Fine. Okay. Ur buying next tho.

Grii (3:18 pm):

FINE. nerd.

Tint (3:18 pm):

Ur a bigger nerd

They went back and forth calling each other nerds before the conversation ultimately ended with Grii falling asleep on her bed. She lied there for awhile, not even waking up when Tenta came in with Amie and opened the window, letting the bird fly away into the sky with her finished letter. And to that, Tenta simply rested on the guest bed taking the time to get lost in thought.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Changes:  
> \- Tenta now mentions Jin being in contact with other Octarians


	13. Slaying Monsters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Sorry for the overdue chapter, I had a lot going on in the last months of school and everything else has been tiring. OTL I also apologize for the short chapter but I promise the next one will be longer. Enjoy for now!

“So what’s the verdict on their arm?”

“It doesn’t look too good.”

“Well… What should we do from here? Does it need an amputation?”

The walls were thin.

It was cold.

Marin shivered, for more reasons than just the cold. The initial shock of it all kept them from thinking about it too much, but now they knew they’d have to face their situation now. They lied in one of the hospital beds, staring at the equipment next to them and watched the heart monitor. The rise and falls were steady, followed by the sound of harsh, annoying beeping.

They sighed then glanced around the hospital, unsurprised by its condition. The wallpapers were peeling, the chairs were worn down, the colors inside were dull and dingy, and the fluorescent lights on the ceiling buzzed and flickered. It gave the impression that it used to be cleaner and much more “welcoming” in its conception, but those days were long gone. As it stood, it would not see its previous condition in a very long time.

The eyes of other octarian patients fell heavy on Marin, with curious stares that left them feeling unnerved. Marin was the only octoling in the room, which would explain the amount of silent attention they received, and perhaps their age brought them attention as well.

‘They were supposed to be in training camp, how could they be injured so heavily?’ would be a likely thought by the soldiers. Marin could only assume the others were injured by Agent 3 or falling debris, as opposed to their own _squad leader_. That detail made their jaw clench.

They shook their head, remembering how they got sent here because their injury was considered a more “serious matter” by the doctors back at camp. _It’s not that bad,_ they thought whilst mocking themself. _Yeah, of course it was that bad, you idiot. I deserve this for being so aloof._ They tried holding back tears as they flipped over to their side.

But then again, they knew they couldn’t stand by as they watched Val speak such horrible, horrible worlds. Had they gotten the chance, they would’ve decked her straight in the face. Painting Tenta as some sort of villain was the last straw.

They thought back on it. They had let their guard down, for one, allowing Val to _literally_ disarm them. And that would mean she attacked them in the first place so they couldn’t retaliate.

_That’s… Smart._

In turn, the seething hatred they had for Val sprung up again, making them want to leave the hospital bed and go right to kick her teeth in.

“Doctor, should we see about getting them a prosthetic?”

One of the nurse’s voices echoed through the wall again, slightly muffled but audible enough to make out the words.

“...Might as well. I doubt they’d be discharged for something like this, so the least we can do is make their life a little easier without use of an arm. A replacement if you will.”

Marin’s eyes met the ceiling. They allowed themself to rest back against the bed, pillows covering their ears and their tentacles sprawled about. Everything was closing in as the sounds of the hospital turned into white noise.

Tears trailed slowly behind their ears as their chest rose and fell with heaves, the weight of what's to come finally hitting them. It was hard to stay calm with fear gripping at their heart, sparking their desire to run away and never come back.

“...Kid.”

Marin’s eyes flipped open. They jolted their head to find the source of the voice in the room and found a dark figure standing across from their bed.

“It’s going to be okay.”

Marin focused their eyes and to their surprise, another octoling came into view. They were unmistakably tall with a muscular build, donned the typical gear set up of an Octoling soldier, had short but slightly curved tentacles, and draping from their head was two long strands of seaweed, revealing them to be an elite octoling.

Marin scowled at them.

“I’m not listening to any elites,” they sniffled. “I don’t care if you’re my higher up.”

The elite stepped forward and Marin could catch a better sight of who they were. She lowered her goggles, revealing a glint of scarlet irises that had glimmers of warmth yet had coolness of formality. Next to their bed stood Commander Kharine, a higher up of the Octarian military.

“I heard about your situation with one of the elites. Value Noire, correct?”

Marin paused and nodded reluctantly.

“Harming one of our own soldiers, amongst other things, is not her first offense. Quite despicable, really. I sympathize with you.”

“Why are you here?” Marin spat.

“I’m here to find out about what happened at the training camp. More specifically, the cause of your injuries. If she’s behind this, then I’m looking into stripping her of her elite status. The higher ups have been too kind with her, but I’ve had enough.”

Marin’s head perked up, their interest sparked.

“Really now?”

Kharine nodded. “I can’t give too much information about how the military is run, but I can tell you that a lot of things within the ranks are… neglected. Well, not to say they just don’t know about it, but more like they don’t care. Especially in regards to training camps like yours.”

“...How did you find out about Val injuring me?”

Kharine’s eyes flickered.

“I had someone report to me directly about it.”

“Who?”

“Can’t say.”

 _Cool. I just love “classified information,”_ Marin thought.

“But I will tell you that they’re a bit more clever than you think,” Kharine remarked, interrupting Marin’s thoughts. “We’ll talk more about it after your procedure.”

Marin stared at her, a little annoyed that their conversation with her was being dropped so quickly.

“...After my procedure.”

“Yes. Good luck,” Kharine replied warmly.

_Good luck? I’m losing my damn arm!_

And with that, Kharine turned her back towards Marin and slowly walked out the door with elusiveness like a cloud of smoke. The door shut behind her with a deafening slam that made even the tiredest of patients jolt awake.

Marin stared after her with confusion brewing in their mind. A higher up actually being concerned about their situation was… Odd, to say the least. They squinted hard. Kharine was a well-known, upstanding member of the military and fairly high ranked. How would they know if she was really on their side at all? How could they trust them? It was fishy.

But there were other things to worry about instead, like their arm. Hopefully things would go alright…

* * *

 

Books were harder to put down than she remembered. As she read, images of brave warriors fighting treacherous battles, the wondrous protagonist rescuing a princess from a salmonid guarded castle, and an adorable romance between the heroine and her love interest filled Tenta’s mind vividly. It didn’t help that the chair she sat in was incredibly comfortable or that the living room in Grii’s house was so quiet, because it only made immersion come easier.

The stories were so captivating, so inspiring, and so much more than the books she read a thousand times over at her home in Octo Valley, too. Most of them involved studies or history rather than action and romance, and what she could find of the latter genres was dear to her. Having the opportunity to read more fiction made Tenta’s heart sing. She was especially captivated by the next passage.

 

 

_The brave knight in shining armor lifted her sword over her head_

_and prepared the final blow that would banish this foul creature into the afterlife._

_Such reign of terror this beast had over her loved one,_

_Such horror indeed._

_But it will not live any longer as the knight had its neck in her clutch._

_Its disgusting, lifeless, orange eyes tried to strike fear into her heart_

_But the knight knew better than to give in to this fear_

_No matter how terrified she felt._

_She had been cared by the princess for so long_

_And she was shocked to hear of her attempt to slay this creature herself._

_The knight trained all day and night to defeat this creature that haunted her true love’s dreams._

_And here she was,_

_In the deep pits of foreign territory,_

_The princess watching from behind_

_And the monster beneath her feet-_

 

“How’s the book?”

Tenta looked up, surprised to see Grii standing across the room from her. Grii’s posture was awkward and her face bore a dazed expression with her head practically nodding off her shoulders.

“It’s... great,” Tenta replied, with slight hesitation. “It’s about a knight who fell in love with a princess and-”

Tenta’s voice trailed off as Grii nodded absentmindedly. The inkling dropped her bag behind her as she walked towards the couch, which sat across the chair Tenta rested in. Grii threw herself onto the sofa, buried her face into a pile of pillows, and groaned as she squeezed them into her face.

Tenta raised her eyebrow and stuck a bookmark into her book before setting it down beside her.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

“Mmm…” Grii mumbled.

“Mmm?”

Grii lifted one of her arms up and flopped it down to her side.

“I’m not sure what that means, Grii.”

“I’m fine,” came her voice muffled by a pile of pillows.

“...Okay.”

“I’m just… Tired.”

Tenta scoffed.

“You sleep over ten hours a day!”

“Not that kind of tired.”

“...Oh,” Tenta scratched her head, “I guess I can relate.”

Grii turned her head to look back at Tenta, her droopy eyes much more apparent.

“Tenta.”

“Yes?”

“Why do you wear those goggles all the time, even when you’re reading?”

“Um…” She rubbed her neck nervously, “It’s personal.”

“Hmm… Isn’t hard to read with them on?”

Tenta shook her head. “These goggles have a zoom functionality to them that can focus on close or far away objects, so they can be useful to reading. I just have them disabled for now. Though, everything is in a slight shade of purple, but only a little bit.”

“Sounds cool.”

“I suppose.”

Grii continued to lie down on the couch, but her eyes trailed a bit as she appeared to be thinking of other things. She abruptly stopped, and her eyes immediately focused on Tenta.

“Hey, what color are my tentacles?”

“Green.”

“Oh.”

Tenta could barely find the urge to resist chuckling, so she covered her mouth and reached for her book.

“Tenta…” Grii started.

“Yes?”

“Are you ever interested in inkling culture?” Grii asked, with a quizative expression on her face.

Tenta tilted her head.

“Maybe. Why?”

“Well I mean, if you’re interested I can tell you stuff about it. Show you some things too.”

Tenta smiled.

“I’ll think about it,” she replied. The thought was nice, but she felt more comfortable simply just reading her books rather than spending times on other things. Plus it still felt… strange, opening up to Grii.

“Alright,” Grii muttered. The inkling yawned and turned over, her back now facing Tenta. “I’m gonna…”

“Going to what?”

Grii didn’t respond. Instead, she lay still on the couch looking like she was going to melt into it. Tenta opened her book again, but not before glancing at the sleeping inkling in front of her for a moment. Grii was a little strange, sure, but slightly endearing too, especially when she was asleep. Of course, Tenta was still a bit on edge from the previous day, but Grii seemed to at least be trying to make amends.

Tenta looked back to where she left off.

_She strikes the final blow._

_Not only did she vanquish the monster who terrorized her dearly beloved,_

_But she also vanquished the monster who terrified herself._

_This monster had settled its way deep into her heart_

_And made her threaten to lose what she loves the most._

_Not only that, but it kept her fearful of closeness._

_But she overcame it with the monster she slayed_

_And ran into her princess’ arms._

_Thus, they lived happily ever after._

Tenta closed the book and stared at the cover in her hands. The image of the knight carrying the princess in her arms and the giant salmonid in the background was painted on. It was smooth against her fingers as she ran them along the cover, frowning ever so slightly.

She didn’t know why it made her feel sad.


	14. Soon It Will Snow, Soon She Will Heal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, I've finally got another chapter published after a month! @_@ Took awhile to get actual inspiration, but it's all good now. Only problem is I'm gonna need to devote time to fine-tune this arc, plus I have college coming up so the next chapter may be awhile. Anyway, enjoy :>
> 
> P.S: I think I may go in and add some chapter summaries in a bit... We'll see.

Grii pried her eyes open, exhaustion still lingering over her as if she were recovering from being hit by a truck. A significant weight had settled its way into her stomach and the reason why escaped her. If she were to guess, the cause would be an unpleasant dream, but remembering what happened exactly wasn’t possible. Grunting, she sat up in her bed, squinted down at her phone, and checked the time.

The back light made her eyes sting, but she was able to make out that the clock displayed 9:12 AM.

It was Saturday, December 1st.

Saturday.

She was supposed to have lunch with Tint.

But she really didn’t want to get out of bed. It was too warm, too comforting, and her body sunk into the sheets like a heavy rock. There was still plenty of time until she’d have to leave anyway, so lying down for a little longer wouldn’t hurt.

As she began to settle herself back in her bed-nest, her phone vibrated in her hand causing her to jump. Hands fumbling around, she brought her phone back up to her face and realized she received a text from Tint.

Tint (9:31 AM)

u up yet sleepy head? >:)

 

Grii opened up the messaging app and stared at his text, squinting so she could make out the words. She typed a response back and hit send.

 

Grii (9:31 AM)

im awake <<

  
  
Tint (9:32 AM)  
yeah but are you up? out of bed?

 

Grii (9:32 AM)  
not yet

 

Tint (9:32 AM)

up up up! we’re having lunch remember?

 

Grii rolled her eyes.

 

Grii (9:33 AM)

we’re having it later in the day dude

 

Tint (9:33 AM)

Im not letting your lunch be breakfast for u. come on! out of bed!

 

Grii (9:34 AM)

okay fine I’m getting out of bed

 

Tint (9:34 AM)

yay!!

 

Grii set her phone down and sat up again, lifting her legs over the side of the bed as she did so. Her voice rumbled in her throat as she stretched. She stood up and her legs wobbled, trying to regain composure.

On the other side of the room, the guest bed lay empty yet again. Grii didn’t think much of it; she was used to Tenta being up hours before her, so she made her way to the dresser to put on her clothes.

“Maybe something different today would be nice…” She muttered. It didn’t make that much of a difference to her considering her mood, but she figured she’d wear something else for once.

The drawers screeched as she slid them out and irritation met her at the disorganization of clothes.

 _Note to self, clean out the drawers later,_ she thought.

Eventually, she pulled out a retro gamer jersey that sat buried underneath various coats in the bottom drawer.

She lifted it over her head, pulled her arms through the sleeves, and tried to fasten the opening over her head. Somehow, her head couldn’t fit through. She pulled on it harder and cursed at it, rage boiling in her stomach. _Why won’t the stupid thing fit?! I bought it two months ago it should fit-_

As she fumbled around with it, a cold, square material brushed against her finger. Grii paused. She pulled on it. The zipper unfastened and let her head through.

_Oh. That was stupid._

With the jersey on properly, she zipped it back up, hoping no one bore witness to the mishap.

After she carried on with the rest of her morning routine, Grii darted downstairs with her phone in her hand. Opening her messenger, she texted Tint.

 

Grii (10:01 AM)

out of bed and gonna have breakfast u happy now?

 

Tint (10:03 AM)

yep :)

 

Grii (10:03 AM)

dude that face looks so passive aggressive

 

Tint (10:03 AM)

what do you mean? :)

 

Grii (10:03 AM)

stop it

 

“What’s so funny?”

Tenta’s voice caught Grii’s attention, causing her to turn her head and look up at her from the kitchen table. The octoling stood at the stove, preparing what Grii assumed was eggs. This time, wafts of smoke trailed from the frying pan and into the air, but the inkling didn’t pay much mind to it.

“Oh, um, I’m talking to my cousin,” Grii answered.

“Through that… thing?”

Grii nodded. “It’s a cellphone, we use it to talk to people by like, messaging them or calling them.”

“...Is that all it’s for?”

“Uhh, not really. Sometimes I use it to check the news or listen to music.”

Tenta tilted her head, as usual.

“That’s interesting. Can it pick up radio signals?”

“I think it depends, most of it is music channels.”

Tenta switched the stove off and dumped the contents of the frying pan onto two plates. She picked up the salt and pepper shakers and seasoned the eggs for an unusually long time. When she finished, she grabbed a handful of silverware and carried them to the kitchen table.

She placed a plate in front of Grii, then sat across from her at the other end of the table.

“I’d like to see if I can listen to Jin’s broadcasts, would that be possible?”

“He’s doing broadcasts?” Grii perked up.

Tenta nodded. “He told me he’s using the radio as a means of communication with Inkopolis’ peace group. I was wondering if you had something I can listen to him with.”

“O-oh, well, I don’t think my phone would work with that. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Tenta sighed. “I’d be a little surprised if it did, anyway. From what I know, Octarian technology doesn’t see much light of day in Inkopolis.”

“In more ways than one?” Grii smiled.

“...Excuse me?”

“You said _‘doesn’t see much light of day.’_ ”

Tenta stared at her for a solid minute, until she sat up straight.

“Oh, wait a minute. You can’t see me roll my eyes. Well, I’m rolling them.”

Grii took notice of the smirk that met Tenta’s face and chuckled at the contrast of her words. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Tenta interrupted her.

“So, what do you think of your breakfast?” Tenta asked anticipatingly.

Grii glanced down at the eggs in front of her and tried not to show the pit of disgust in her stomach through her face. The eggs were nearly charred black and salt and pepper littered the entire plate, covering what little of the unburnt part of the eggs she could see.

She gave a crooked smile in response and picked up a fork, carefully puncturing a piece of the “breakfast” and placing it into her mouth. Stifling the urge to gag, she chewed and swallowed it as fast as she could.

“It’s-” She coughed, tears in her eyes. “It’s good.”

Tenta smiled. “I’m glad.” She picked up her own fork and took a bite of her share.

Tenta sat still and slowly lowered her head, putting the fork down next to her plate and pushing everything away from her.

“Grii…”

“Yeah?”

“How could you even like this?”

* * *

 

Afternoon began to roll in. Grii slipped on her coat and began packing her belongings in her bag. She packed extra money in case Tint wasn’t able to cover the bill, a precaution she took despite not running into that issue before.

She reached for the doorknob once she got everything ready.

“Are you going out with your cousin?” Tenta asked, leaning on the entrance to the kitchen.

Grii nodded. “Yeah, we’re gonna get lunch. I’ll probably be back at around four or so.”

“Can you bring me home some more books?”

Grii raised an eyebrow.

“You’re already finished with the ones I bought you?”

“Well…” Tenta rubbed the back of her head. “Not really, but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to have more I suppose.”

“If you get more books, you won’t be able to finish all of them. I’ll get you new ones when you’re finished with ones you already have,” Grii replied firmly, though she felt her amusement shine through her eyes.

Tenta huffed and went back into the kitchen, making Grii feel too perplexed to even respond. It was strange how Tenta’s actual age seemed to show every now and then. Normally, Grii would forget that the octoling was only fourteen, but it became apparent through her occasional stubbornness and naivety that Tenta was still just a child.

Grii had to remind herself that she too, is a child, no matter how many years it felt like since _it_ happened. The months she remained isolated felt like ages, but it dawned on her that only a year had passed.

She turned, opened the door, and stepped outside. Breathing in the cold air made her nostrils sting and her eyes water, as per usual for the month of December.

Her stomach sank at the realization of what month it was. Her ears flattened against her head and her jaw clenched.

She _hated_ December, even if Squidmas was coming up. Lifting her hood over head, she bundled herself up and walked over to her moped. Thankfully, it hadn’t snowed yet, so driving wouldn’t be too much of a hassle.

* * *

 

The distinct sound of ringing bells filled Grii’s ears as she entered through the doors. Faint Squidmas tunes played softly over the restaurant radio, fitting with the theme of the multicolored lights and wreaths that hung from the ceiling. Despite the cool, darkness of winter outside, the inside of the restaurant was warm and soft.

Grii waded her way through the crowded entrance with a cool breeze following behind her, brushing the tips of her tentacles and causing her to shiver.

She excused herself as she walked by, trying not to become overwhelmed by the number of people in her bubble as she scanned the venue looking for her cousin. It wasn’t until she saw him waving to her that she whizzed by and settled herself into the chair in front of him.

“Hey there, sorry about the crowd,” Tint frowned. “I know you don’t like loud, crowded areas, but I didn’t think this creperie would be packed today. Or, at the very least, get packed at this hour.”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind too much if it’s restaurants. It’s more like… crowded stores that get to me.” Grii explained.

Tint took a sip of his drink, a coffee Grii assumed, set it back down on the mahogany table and glanced at the menu.

“December rush sure is something, ain’t it?” He commented, his voice as warm as a fireplace.

“Mhmm,” Grii responded, “I really don’t like it.”

“The crowd or December?” Tint asked, looking back up at her.

“December,” she sighed. “I don’t like it anymore. It reminds me of, you know... “

Tint nodded and took another sip of his coffee, as if he were absorbing Grii’s words.

“Have you told anyone else about what’s happened?”

Grii shook her head and swallowed.

“You’re the only one who knows. Not even Mom knows what happened.”

“Are you ever going to tell everyone?” Tint asked her, his eyes warm.

Grii lowered her head. Despite Tint’s patience, she felt like she was being reprimanded somehow.

“I- I don’t know. Honestly, if you didn’t witness it happen then I don’t think I would’ve told you either.”

To her surprise, she felt a weight on her shoulder, causing her to glance back up to find concern written all over Tint’s face. Any hint of disapproval from him had melted away.

“...But I’ll tell everyone when I’m ready,” she reassured him as she looked him in the eyes, even if she didn’t believe herself.

“Please do,” he implored as he sat back down in his seat. “We’re all here to help you, you know. We care about you.”

“I know. Thank you.”

Silence came between them for moments until a waiter came by, took their orders, and left. Grii took a sip of the hot chocolate she ordered as she stared at the ceiling, inspecting the Squidmas decorations while she remained lost in her thoughts. She blinked, and looked back at her cousin expectantly.

“Tint?”

“Yeah?”

Her words were trapped in her throat, and took as much effort as she could muster to make them come out.

“Is it, um... Wrong... that I hate Reddin?” She whispered.

“You’re asking the guy who punched him,” Tint replied.

Next thing she knew, she was back to the night it happened. Darkness flooded her vision and the freezing cold had returned to her body. The ground was hard and wet, her knees scraped on the pavement, her right cheek stinging hard as she covered it with her hands. Tears poured out of her eyes and a pounding headache drilled into her skull. Visions of darkness and coldness flooded her mind, and a booming voice echoed in her ears.

_“Never lay another hand on my cousin ever again, you jerk! Never EVER hurt her again, you hear me?!”_

It wasn’t until Tint prompted her name did she return to the present, blinking up from her cup of hot chocolate as it shook in her hands.

“S-sorry,” she started, still shaken. “I mean it, though. I just, aside from that I don’t know how I should feel about him and all that he’s done. We were friends, and before everything went wrong he was the only one who _wanted_ me.”

She swallowed the familiar lump in her throat, and held back the tears that burned her eyes. “And the fact that... because I know now that I never returned his feelings, I feel like I deserved what came to me. I must deserve it for him to treat me like that.”

Tint shook his head solemnly.

“No no, you didn’t deserve any of it, especially since you didn’t know about your identity at all. That’s not a justification for him hurting you.”

“...Okay,” she said quietly, almost under her breath. She couldn’t figure out what to add in addition to that. Her words strangled themselves in her throat, and she instead took another sip of her hot chocolate.

“You know, Grii, you’ve come a ways since it all happened,” Tint commented.

Grii’s head perked up. “What do you mean?”

“You’re working towards healing is what I mean. I see you out of the house a lot more than I did a year ago, and it seems like you’re happier too. You even made some self discoveries,” he smiled.

Grii looked away.

“I suppose so.”

“...And honestly, I was- I was incredibly worried when your friends told me you went into Octo Valley and didn’t come home.”

Grii looked back at him and stared him in the eyes, seeing a hint of fear-- or something different -- wash over his face for the first time. Tint’s eyes focused on his coffee, yet they were slightly erratic and large as if he’s seen a ghost. Guilt settled itself into the pit of Grii’s stomach.

“Octo Valley can be dangerous, especially since it has a bottomless pit. I was afraid that you…”

He swallowed and made eye contact with her. Then he shook his head.

“...I was afraid you might’ve gotten hurt.”

She stared him in the eyes, confused. The space in Octo Valley wasn’t that narrow or small, so she failed to see how she could have fallen off, or even done anything that could worry him.

“It’s okay, Tint. I was careful.” She gave him a reassuring smile, despite the fact that she _did_ nearly get killed, but he didn’t need to know that. “I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, I promise. I’m sorry I worried you.”

“It’s okay,” he breathed. “Do you have anything on your mind you want to talk about?”

Grii thought about it.

“I have a question,” she started. “Did… did you already know I was a lesbian, before I even knew?”

Tint smiled. “Yeah, I have an accurate gaydar.”

Grii raised an eyebrow.

“...What the heck is a gaydar?!”

Tint snorted and immediately brought his hand to his face, covering his mouth.

“You don’t know?!”

“No! Why would I?”

“I just- I thought you would! Wow, you have so many things to learn…”

Grii glared at him.

“Hey, don’t give me that look,” Tint laughed. “Look, if you have any questions, I’m the bi guy to ask.”

“Hmph.”

Tint laughed.

Moments later, their orders arrived at their table. Grii gently nudged her sweet crepe with a fork before deciding to have a few bites. It was incredibly sweet, but she could tell it was made with quality ingredients. Maybe she’d figure out how to make one someday.

“Have you hung out with Ann and Quinn recently? Outside of the plaza?” Tint asked, gesturing with his fork.

Grii shook her head.

“How bout you invite them over? It wouldn’t hurt having their company, yeah?”

“O-oh um, well, my house has been too messy.” She replied. The house being messy wasn’t _exactly_ a lie, but it wasn’t the full truth either. Either way, she couldn’t have anyone come over when she has an _Octoling_ staying at her house that absolutely no one can know about.

“Too messy, huh?” Tint tilted his head thoughtfully. “I can come over and help, if you want.”

“No!”

Tint sat up, surprised.

“I-I mean, it’s… Really gross, I should probably clean it by myself. I can do it,” she explained.

“Well… Okay then, but when it’s clean you should consider having some outside company. Staying home by yourself _all_ the time would get pretty lonely, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Grii nodded. “I think that would help.”

“Good.”

“Hey um, thank you for looking out for me, Tint,” Grii spoke. “You’ve been a lot of help, honestly.”

“Anything for you, Grii.”

When they finished their meals, Tint dug into his wallet and pulled out cash, counting each individual bill. He glanced at the receipt, and looked up sheepishly towards Grii.

“Um, you wouldn’t happen to have a five on you, would you?”

Grii rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, luckily for you I brought some cash just in case.”

She reached into her bag and pulled out the right amount for the bill, handing it to Tint.

“Will you pay me back, dude?” She asked.

“Uh, why wouldn’t I?”

“Just making sure you won’t forget like last time.”

“Hey, that was one time!”

“Took you months to remember to pay me back,” she argued, her mouth pressing into a thin line.

“Okay okay, Miss Stinge, I’ll remember. Bother me in like, two days if I don’t pay you back.”

Grii chuckled. “You got it.”

They stepped outside after everything was packed up and paid for. Grii looked up into the sky. It was completely white as all the clouds were packed together.

“Do you think it’s gonna snow?” She asked.

Less than a moment after she spoke, a snowflake came down and settled itself on top of her nose. She batted at it in surprise and grew red after hearing Tint burst into laughter.

“Looks like it!” He laughed. “Better prepare yourself, then.”

Grii didn’t respond. Instead, she kept her eyes toward the sky as more snowflakes fell delicately around them. She didn’t like December in the slightest, but everything about the snow felt safe and familiar to her. It was the one thing she didn’t mind about Winter.

She never took the time to think about how much she changed until now. Memories of isolation and fear settled into her mind, along with uncertainty of who she was after _it_ happened.

All she had then was Tint visiting and checking up on her every so often, and even then she never left the house. She had lost friends, she wasn’t sure if she’d ever do turf wars again, and her health wasn’t the best as she stopped taking care of herself.

But now she was slowly getting back on her feet, despite the difficulty of it.

With the coming of snow, perhaps it’d be a new beginning for her.


	15. Don't Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a long wait! College has been killing me! But I finally can put out this chapter (also this isn't an april fools chapter trust me)
> 
> Not sure how long it'll take me to update again, but hopefully it'll be soon!

Cold air brushed against Agent 3’s cheeks as they trudged along the sidewalk deep into the depths of Inkopolis. Normally, they would’ve been on-duty and scoping the city, but Cap’n Cuttlefish insisted they take the day off. They objected to this idea, but the old man gave them a pat on the back and handed them several coins to ‘get themself something nice’.

Agent 3 stopped in place and glanced down at the coins in their hand. Essentially, they weren’t worth much at all, making them wonder if Cuttlefish was aware of price inflation. They appreciated the gesture, sure, but it didn’t seem worth putting off an urgent mission in order to take a day. They thought back to the conversation they had with the Captain.

_ “You’re a workaholic Agent 3,” Cuttlefish had said. “I know there’s not much for you to do outside of agent work, but spending so much time thinking about - and doing missions - isn’t healthy. Soon, that’s all you’ll ever do instead of going out, making friends, and relaxing. Trust me, I know from experience.” _

_ Agent 3 diverted their gaze and looked off into the valley. Inkopolis was in their view, with its familiar skyscrapers and landscape. It was their only home - the only home they knew, and it meant everything to them. _

_ “What do any of those things matter when there’s a chance that Inkopolis could be taken over?” They stared Cuttlefish down with an intense gaze and continued. “My health, social life, whatever, means nothing. I can sacrifice all that if it means that Inkopolis will be safe from Octarians forever.” _

_ Cap’n Cuttlefish looked back at them with solemnity in his eyes. _

_ “You sound just like I did when I was younger. Prefixed on nobility and self-sacrifice…” _

_ He turned away from them slowly. _

_ “But I will tell you now, I can’t let the same happen to you. I’ve lost so much because of my preoccupation with being a ‘hero’ to Inkopolis, that I promised myself that I wouldn’t let my agents go down the same route. I never let agent work get in the way of Agent 1 and 2’s dreams and ambitions, and I’d say they’re pretty accomplished because of that.” _

_ He looked back at Agent 3. _

_ “There is a dangerous passion inside of you, Agent 3. So dangerous that you could lose all sense of compassion. And despite all that we’ve gone through to protect Inkopolis from Octarians, I don’t believe Octarians are inherently bad.” _

_ Agent 3 looked at him with confusion. How could he not? _

_ “I know I said that the Octoling could be a threat to the city, but I feel like it may be the other way around this time. Things aren’t so black and white as they’re presented, do you understand?” _

_ Agent 3 nodded, but they knew they still didn’t understand him. _

The memory faded from their vision and they found themself staring into the cityscape. Busy cars ran up and down the streets, causing gusts of air to blow past the agent. Moments later, Agent 3 looked up into the sky and saw snowflakes begin to fall one by one.

They sighed and stuffed the coins back into their pocket, continuing walking forward.

“Where did that missing girl go, anyway?” They mumbled.

As they walked, more sheets of snow covered the ground. Their mind was wandering as they walked past each shop on the corner, trying to gauge which one would be the most affordable for their small budget. 

But the thought of the missing girl continued to linger in the back of their mind, as much as they tried to push it away. Had she been deliberately avoiding them? Why, then? Wouldn’t she want to turn in the very thing that could attack her?

Agent 3 sighed. There’s no way that the Octoling simply dropped off the girl into the city. Perhaps it’s taking her hostage somewhere. Where else would she be?

They turned the corner and stopped. The warmth of the shop next to them caught their attention, urging them to look inside. The store’s shelves were stocked with books of varying sizes, marked by the genres they fit into. Squidmas decorations hung from the ceiling and was plastered around the entire store, even covering the register. Lights hung from the window and garlands ran all along the store, turning it into a festive display on its own.

Agent 3 smiled. They couldn’t remember the last time they entered a bookstore, let alone read something that wasn’t a manual. But the inside was charming despite the lack of incentive to enter otherwise. Perhaps they could buy books for Cuttlefish and the other agents as a Squidmas gift.

They wistfully headed towards the entrance, feeling inspired to pick out something nice. Agent 1 and 2 would be a little bit of a mystery to shop for, but perhaps Cuttlefish would be interested in a recipe book about crabby cakes.

They reached for the door handle and was caught off guard when it moved on its own. It wiggled a few times, until the door itself slowly opened. A crack of gold from the inside of the shop leaked out the door and grew as it opened. Agent 3 looked down slowly and was met with a pair of yellow eyes blinking up at them.

The eyes bulged up in shock upon recognizing them.

It was the missing girl.

“U-um… Hi?” She squeaked.

Agent 3 squinted at her.

The girl swung the door open and tried to run away, but Agent 3 grabbed her by the arm before she could escape.

“Why are you running away?!” Agent 3 yelled.

“Let go of me!”

“I’m not going to hurt you, I only have a few questions to ask!” They groaned.

“I don’t have to answer to you!” She screamed.

Agent 3 yanked her into place, albeit with some extra-needed force. This girl was surprisingly strong.

“Look, you’re going to cause a scene. We can handle this civilly, do you understand?”

The girl turned her head and glared at them, ears flattening against her head.

“What if I want to cause a scene? I  _ will  _ call the police.”

Agent 3 clenched their jaw in frustration. They had to come up with something in order to get the girl to cooperate. They took in a deep breath, and an idea came into their mind. It was stupid, of course, but perhaps the girl was naive enough to fall for it.

“...I am the police.” They breathed.

The girl’s glare dropped abruptly, and her eyes widened.

“I may be off-duty,” Agent 3 continued, “but I’m still technically a part of the force. The agency I’m working for is a part of the military branch in Inkopolis, despite how unprofessional our headquarters looks. Cap’n Cuttlefish himself doesn’t run it, he just instructs us. Our true leader is the mayor of Inkopolis.”

Agent 3 swallowed hard. Their lie didn’t sound credible in the slightest. However, the girl nodded slowly and turned around.

“Fine. I’ll talk.”

Agent 3 had to keep themself from raising an eyebrow. They couldn’t believe that worked.

“Good, now I’ll take you back to headquarters and we’ll some more in-depth questioning-”

“No,” the girl interrupted, with a crease in her eyebrows still visible. “I’m not going to your headquarters. It’s late and I have to go home.”

Agent 3 felt impatience grow inside them. “Fine, can we reach a compromise then?”

The girl nodded. “You can question me here, or anywhere that isn’t crowded. Then I can go home and you leave me alone.”

“That works.”

* * *

Grii stood in the corner of the alley, trying to maintain some form of intimidation on Agent 3. Of course, that didn’t really work in of itself, but it helped masked the fear that caused her to shake. She took deep breaths to calm herself down, but her heart was still beating in her ears. It was starting to get really late. It was pitch black outside with the exception of streetlights and squidmas decorations. Snow from earlier continued to fall, now covering her ankles and making her even colder.

_ Just lie.  _ She told herself.  _ Lie and everything will be okay. _

“My first question is,” Agent 3 spoke up, pacing to and fro in front of Grii. “What is your name?”

Grii swallowed.

“It’s Grii. What’s… yours?”

She internally swore at herself.

Agent 3 raised an eyebrow at them.

“That’s classified information.”

“I told you mine, at least tell me yours,” Grii argued. “What do you even have to hide your name for, anyway? No one will know what I’m talking about, or believe me even.”

Agent 3 stared at her, then blinked slowly.

“...Yelli. But don’t call me by it.”

“This is the last time I’ll see you, so it doesn’t matter.” Grii spoke coolly.

“How can you be so certain of that?”

“Because there’s not much I can tell you, anyway.”

Agent 3 stood still, then slowly turned away.

“My second question: why are you responding so aggressively to me? You appear to be incriminating yourself by this.”

Grii paused.

“...Being attacked by Octarians was scary. How could I trust you now when I couldn’t trust you to keep me safe?”

Agent 3 didn’t move.

Wind whistled past them and blew snow around rapidly. The buzz of fluorescent lights from nearby store signs filled Grii’s ears in the silence.

“That’s a fair reason. I should have done more to protect you, I agree.”

Agent 3 turned their head towards Grii, their yellow eyes showing a glint of pain accompanied by their frown.

“But you can trust me now, I promise. I just want to help keep Inkopolis safe,” Agent 3 spoke.

Grii frowned. Yelli did seem genuine, but that wasn’t going to keep her from lying to them.

“So, let’s get into why I’m actually questioning you,” Agent 3 continued. “Awhile ago when you snuck into Octovalley, you were taken away by an octoling while I was too busy dealing with another one. What happened?”

Grii took in a deep breath.

“I can’t remember much, but I woke up in a hospital.”

“I asked the Inkopolis Urgent Care if you were admitted into their building, but they said they didn’t have someone of your description checked in.”

“I-it wasn’t that hospital. It was… The one closer to Color Avenue.”

“Hm… That’s strange. Why would the octoling take you that far?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Huh. Well, perhaps she’s not as intelligent as I thought.”

Grii felt anger boil in her chest.

“If that’s all you can say then, you’re free to go. I’d imagine the injuries from black ink would cause you to faint so you couldn’t remember too much-”

Agent 3 paused.

“...Did the hospital ask about the source of the black ink?”

Grii shook her head.

Agent 3 squinted at her. “Strange.”

Grii stared back at them, her nails digging into her clenched hand. Her lie was beginning to fall apart, and she wasn’t sure what to do.

“Are you absolutely sure?”

Grii swallowed then nodded.

“I see… Well, I’ll be keeping an eye on you then.”

Grii stared at them, dumbfounded.

“Where exactly, do you do turf wars? The plaza, the square, where?”

“The plaza.”

“Hmph. I’m not sure why finding you was so difficult then. Carry on, then. But this isn’t the last time you’ll be seeing me, understand?”

Grii nodded.

Without another word, Agent 3 turned their back and walked off, not even so much as looking at Grii behind them. Grii let out a breath of air she didn’t know she was holding in and sat on the ground, not caring if snow got on her clothes. Pulling her shopping bags over to herself, she reached in and pulled out one of the books she bought, staring at the cover.

It was another romance novel for Tenta, among others.

Grii let out a sigh. ‘ _ I won’t let Agent 3 find her,’  _ was a thought that repeated in her mind constantly. She slipped the book back into one of the bags, and stood back up carrying them in her arms.

* * *

Grii opened the door to her house, relieved that she managed to make it home without any other difficulties getting in her way. Wiping her goggles on her sleeve, she took them off and set them on the table after removing her coat and scarf. With her ears burning from the cold, she wondered why she didn’t bother to buy earmuffs while she was out.

Truding upstairs she wondered if Tenta was in her bedroom like always. Sure enough, when she entered her own bedroom, Tenta sat on the guest bed reading a different book from the day before. If Grii recalled correctly, this one was a sci-fi novel.

Tenta looked up from her book, her body language unchanging.

“Where were you, Grii?”

Grii looked away, trying to figure out how to explain the situation to Tenta.

“...Agent 3 found me.”

Tenta slowly set her book down, visibly tensing up.

“But,” Grii added, “They don’t know where you are. I lied and said that I knew nothing, and that you could be anywhere. They’re keeping an eye on me, but I’ll continue to lie.”

“I see.”

“They won’t find you, I promise.”

Tenta nodded, then lied down on her back against the bed.

“Thank you,” she muttered, unconvinced.

Grii didn’t expect much else to come out of Tenta, so she walked over and sat on her own bed. She looked over to where the octoling lay, and back down at the books she purchased.

“...Do you know what a gaydar is?”

Tenta sat up, and looked her dead in the eye.

“You don’t know?”

“No! Why does everyone think I’d know?” Grii yelled.

Tenta chuckled.

“It’s when you can tell when someone else is gay, either based on how they present themselves or how they act.”

“Isn’t that like… Stereotyping?”

Tenta tilted her head, but in a disapproving manner this time.

“No,” she stated firmly. “It’s different when we do it, because usually it’s a deliberate way of finding each other.”

“Oh, okay.” Grii said, still not getting it.

“You’ll understand after awhile,” Tenta commented.

“How do you know so much about this?”

Tenta layed back down on her side, still maintaining eye contact with Grii.

“I’m a lesbian, Grii.”

“Oh, you are?”

“Yes.”

Grii felt something inside her light up, but she quickly brushed it away.

“Well, that aside. Would you mind helping me clean up the house a little?”

“...The mess that you made?”

The question came across more as a statement, but Grii ignored it.

“I bought new books, and I’ll give em to you if you help me.”

Tenta paused, then nodded. “Deal. When do you want to get started?”

Grii stared at the ceiling.

“Tomorrow, after breakfast?”

“Alright,” Tenta replied. “So, why the sudden need for cleanliness?”

“My cousin suggested I clean up so I can have company over, for a change of pace. If it’s not clean, he’d barge into my house at any moment to make me do it with him, which would mean we’d have to hide you on short notice.”

“If you have company over, you’d have to hide me on short notice anyway.”

“Well, I mean, I’d have at least a day in advance to think about what to do if it were my friends. Tint just does whatever he pleases.”

“Your cousin sounds interesting.”

“He’s just looking out for me.”

“I didn’t mean it in a bad way,” Tenta smiled. She hesitated momentarily, before continuing. “He kind of reminds me of Marin.”

“...Who?”

“My only friend in the Octarian Military, we both hated it there to say the least,” she chuckled. “They too, did as they please, albeit in a rather aloof way. I consider them family.”

Grii sat still and locked eyes with Tenta’s.

“Do you miss them?”

Tenta frowned mournfully.

“More than anything, honestly. Despite the circumstances of how we met, I’m glad I even got to meet them at all.”

Following Tenta’s words, the weight of it all finally settled in. Grii was all Tenta had, much like how Tint was all Grii had for awhile. It scared her how many similarities they shared.

“...Are you okay, Tenta?”

The question had slipped out of her mouth, but she was unsure what else to say.

Tenta looked back at her, visibly confused. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve had a lot happen to you, you know? I mean, I don’t know everything that’s happened but…”

“Why do you care?”

The question took Grii aback, shocked by Tenta’s sudden hostility.

“I-”

“You don’t even know me, Grii. All of me. And I know you wouldn’t like me if you did. Few people ever did, and I lost all of them,” Tenta’s words came out in a rush.

“Tenta-”

“You and I both know that I’m not going to be here forever. I know I said I’d be open to trust you, but I can’t deal with the idea of getting close with someone and losing them again. I lost my parents to a fire, I lost Marin because they wouldn’t come with me, and I lost Jin because the military is horrible and wants to track me down. I don’t want to get close, especially when Agent 3 is on our asses, because I obviously don’t deserve to have anyone!”

Grii stared at her, stunned.

Tenta turned away from Grii, and buried her face in her knees.

“I-I’m sorry,” she sobbed.

Grii lifted herself from her bed, and walked over to where Tenta sat. She took a breath, and gently pried Tenta’s hands away from her face. The octoling refused to look her in the eyes, tears running down her cheeks.

“I don’t… know why I blew up like that,” she said, choking on a sob.

“It’s okay,” Grii hushed her. “I’ve done something similar a lot before.”

Tenta didn’t comment. Instead, she sat silently. Grii sat over next to her, unsure of how to comfort her.

“You’ll get to see Jin and Marin again, Tenta,” Grii promised. “I’ll make sure of it.”

Tenta wiped her face as her sobs subdued until she was left sniffling.

“How can you promise me that?”

“Because you deserve to have good things,” Grii answered. “We may not know each other that well, but I want you to be happy. You shouldn’t have to feel as bad - or worse - as I used to feel. I want to be here for you, Tenta.”

“Why are you being so nice to me, Grii?”

“Because I like you,” she smiled, “and I want to be your friend.”

She didn’t notice the slight flush of red that filled Tenta’s cheeks as she smiled back at her. To Grii’s surprise, Tenta pulled her into a hug. Grii paused for a moment before she wrapped her arms around her in return, feeling warmth inside her as they embraced each other.  
“Thank you,” Tenta whispered.

“It’s no problem,” Grii spoke softly. “I’m here for you, okay?”

Tenta nodded.

Grii wasn’t entirely sure what came over her. She did like Tenta, with her quirks and everything, but if Grii had been a different person she’d likely have lost her patience. But she knew deep inside that she wanted to be the person she needed when she was going through her own rough times, and Tenta needed someone like that too.

Tenta needed her.

And perhaps, she needed Tenta too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! If you wanna see me ramble about the fic some more (or in general) feel free to follow my twitter @kittydatefriend!
> 
> Also, please leave a comment if you can! It encourages me to keep going!


	16. Movie Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been such a long while since I posted my last chapter... OTL I've had quite a bit going on with changing majors in college and working, but summer is here thus I have more time to write! Thank you all for bearing with me ♥

The day had passed quickly, along with house’s atmosphere. Busyness had drained from the halls and out of the house, with a calm draping in much like the exchange of warm air with the cool. It was sunny but chilly as ever with breezes blowing around.

Tenta sat in a wooden chair in the corner of the living room. It wasn’t the most comfortable seat, but the blanket wrapped around her gave her a little bit of comfort to combat it. As she sat, she observed the white powdery stuff that had fallen the night before. It was called “snow” as had Grii told her; a substance made of frozen water that fell out of the sky.

Back in Octovalley, she heard of “rain”, but the way the elders described it made it sound like an old fairy tale. Water falling out of the sky without use of machinery was a foreign concept, so snow was difficult to wrap her mind around. However, Tenta couldn’t help but find herself curious of the world outside anyway. The sunlight glistening against the blankets of snow on the ground was unlike anything she had seen before. It was like the reflection of machinery she had seen at home, but instead it lay in something entirely organic.

“You’ve been sitting in front of the window for quite awhile. Enjoying the view?”

Tenta looked behind her as Grii walked over to where she sat. The inkling held two mugs in her hand, the contents inside steaming and melting the whip cream that topped it.

“I am,” Tenta replied.

Grii hummed absentmindedly in response and stared outside the window. She was lost in thought for a few moments before exhaling quietly and kneeling beside Tenta. She handed her one of the mugs she was carrying and took a sip of her own.

Tenta stared down at the drink. It smelled sweet.

“What is it?” She asked.

“Hot chocolate,” Grii replied, taking another sip. “With whip cream, chocolate chips... Can’t remember if I put marshmallows in it or not. That’d be kind of overkill.”

Tenta lifted the mug to her face, taking a small sip of the drink in case it'd burn her tongue. The taste caught her by surprise, as it was very rich and sweet. The sip she took engulfed a warmness throughout her entire body. Without hesitating, she took larger drinks of it until she was practically chugging through the whole thing.

She caught Grii giving her a strange look, but she didn’t care. Wiping her mouth with her hand, she set the mug down on the windowsill.

“How was it?” Grii asked.

“Good, thank you,” Tenta replied.

They sat in silence for a moment as the snow flurried outside.

“Can I have some more?”

“Here,” Grii handed Tenta the mug in her hand. “You can have the rest of mine, I don’t really need it.”

She held it with both hands, about to give Grii thanks, but the inkling interrupted her.

“Thank you for helping me clean up, it means a lot.”

Tenta nodded in return.

“...You probably shouldn’t sit too close to the window, people might see you,” Grii warned.

“I figured,” Tenta sighed. She touched the glass with her fingertips, feeling how cold it was. The outside was a mystery to her, despite the little time she spent outside escaping to Grii’s house.

“I wish I could go out there. I mean, I never really thought about what it was like when I got here, but I did back at home.”

Grii’s face slowly grew into a somber expression as Tenta spoke, until she leaned over and rested on the windowsill.

“There’s a lot out there,” she muttered. “I can understand why you’d want to see it all. A lot of people, a lot of stores, a lot of… natural wonders I guess.”

Tenta took notice of the pause between each words that Grii spoke.

“...but it’s safer for you to stay inside, for now at least.”

Tenta felt disappointment rest on her shoulders.

“I know…” she sighed. “You’re right.”

Grii stood up and gave her a light, encouraging pat on the back.

“So… I still need to repay you for helping me clean the house.”

Tenta tilted her head.

“What about the books and hot chocolate?”

“I’d say that’s bare minimum. Besides, it’s something better than books and hot chocolate. Wait, no. That’s not what I meant… Something… Different? You get it, right?”

Tenta nodded, humoring the inkling, but she felt confusion swirl inside her. What could be better than books?

“Would you mind if I went out for a bit to get it?”

Grii didn’t have any sense of irony in her words at all, considering the previous topic, but Tenta nodded and let out a quiet “sure” anyway.

“Alright! I’ll be home as soon as possible!” she promised.

Tenta watched as Grii grabbed her bag off of the table and exited the room. She heard a distinct slam of the front door, and after a few moments she stared back out the window.

Tenta smiled. Grii was a little strange, sure, but she appreciated the fact that she was making an effort to repay her. There was something about it that was a little cute to her.

* * *

Grii gently breathed in the cold air as if it were a part of herself, filling life inside her. She felt ambition rise up as she would go out and complete her next “duty.”

She stifled a laugh realizing how silly she must look with her chest puffed out, standing in the middle of the snow-covered driveway. She boarded her moped, unlocked the chain that fastened it, revved up the engine and took off into the streets.Despite piles of snow completely engulfing the yards of her neighborhood, the roads were surprisingly clear, to her relief. Mentally mapping out a destination she knew exactly where needed to go.

Her moped screeched to a stop as she pulled into the parking lot of the video rental store. It looked different than she remembered when she first drove by it on her moped; it was a compact box of a building with very little roof on it. The sign was worn down and read “Movie INK: Video and Rentals.”

Grii peered through the windows, the inside of the store looking rather linear and dark. Aisles were clearly divided into rows with different kinds of “sea life” stopping at each genre.

“Not as exciting as I remembered…” she muttered to herself. The building looked worn down from the outside, but she wasn’t sure what she was expecting from a considerably vintage storefront. Still, ‘don’t judge a movie by its box art,’ her mom would always say.

As she entered the building, the doors let out a shrill screech similar to a distressed zapfish. The smell of burnt rubber attacked her nose as the air pushed out past her and she quickly covered her face with the neck of her jacket. Grii sighed. She didn’t know of any other video rental places in Inkopolis, so she didn’t have much of a choice.

“HELLO THERE YOUNG LADY, CAN I HELP YOU FIND A _RADTASTIC_ MOVIE THAT’LL ROCK YOUR NIGHT?”

Grii slammed her back against the entrance as an overly zealous sea cucumber screeched at her from the counter. It sat on a pet bed in front of the register, holding a pile of DVDs on top of its head.

All she could do was stare back in stunned silence and slowly shake her head.

“I’VE GOT THE BEST OF THE BEST IN ACTION, ROMANCE, HORROR, MURDER- okay maybe not murder- BUT THRILLERS AND ANYTHING YOUR SASSY LITTLE MIND CAN HANDLE!”

Grii could swear the sea cucumber was yelling at the top of its metaphorical lungs at this point and by god did she want it to stop.

“O-okay, what do you have?” She said, hoping to quell its strange desire to talk her ears off.

“WELL, LET’S SEE. YOU SEEM LIKE THE KIND OF GAL WHO LIKES HORROR MOVIES. YOU’RE QUAKING IN FEAR RIGHT THIS MOMENT.”

“Actually I-”

“WE’VE GOT ZOMBIE INKLING GOES ON A RAMPAGE AND EATS PLENTY OF HEARTS AND BRAINS, OCTARIANS RIP OUT THE GUTS OF INNOCENT CHILDREN, CRUSTY SEAN’S DANGEROUS SHOES, HAVING TO ASK FOR NAPKINS AT A RESTAURANT AND NOT WANTING TO BOTHER THE EMPLOYEES-”

“I. I think I’m good, actually-”

“OCTARIAN CANNIBALS-”

“I’m fine, I swear. I think I know what movie I want,” Grii muttered, feeling nausea run through her body.

“OKAY, JUST LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS. MY NAME IS C. APPELLE, CALL ME WHEN YOU NEED ME YOU FUNKY LITTLE SQUID.”

“Okay…”

Grii sprinted-walked away from the front register, thankful that sea cucumbers can’t travel too quickly, and stood in the corner of the store trying to catch her breath. When her heart rate slowed, she allowed herself to take a closer look at the interior around her.

Something about the humbleness calmed her, along with the hundreds of choices in movies she could watch. Over the radio echoed gentle music, lo-fi and jazzlike. Despite the less-than-pleasant smell of the place, the atmosphere resonated with something in her.

From where she stood, she read over the aisle categories. She gazed over the sci-fi section for a few moments, but turned the other way. She wasn’t here for herself. Her eyes scanned the other genres; Horror, Action, Comedy, and Romance. The last option, romance, made her face scrunch up. It was uncertain whether she’d be able to stomach it. She didn’t hate the genre, but she knew she felt empty any time she saw a romance unfold on screen.

But it was Tenta’s favorite genre, so she forced herself down the aisle.

“HELLO THERE, YOU FUNKY-LITTLE-SPUNKY-LITTLE INKLING! LOOKING FOR A ROMANCE MOVIE THAT’LL _ROCK YOUR SOCKS OFF?_ ”

Grii clenched her jaw and felt her eyes involuntarily close.

“I’m fine, C. Appelle.”

“KID, HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND? I’M NOT C. APPELLE. I’M C.S. LUGH. EXPERT IN ROMANCE.”

Grii let out a deep sigh. _How many sea slugs, sea cucumbers, even work here,_ she thought.

“I wanna look by myself, thanks,” she spoke firmly.

The sea slug laughed.

“ALRIGHT THEN, BABY. IF YOU’VE THINK YOU GOT IT, THEN YOU GOT IT!”

And with that, C.S. Lugh slithered away, leaving behind a trail of sparkly slime.

Grii stared after her and blinked a few times before turning back to the romance section of the store. It was a mess of an aisle with several empty cases covering the floor along with naked DVDS scattered among them. The shelves had no indication of labeling by any order, so Grii simply picked out one closest in front of her.

There was an image of the two main characters running across a field of flowers, hand in hand, while the antagonist watched from the bushes. Dents covered the case of the movie, distorting the text to the point where the title was illegible. Thankfully, the summary on the back was still readable.

“A story of two lovers destined for each other. However, there’s a rival who wants to split their love apart, to keep one of them to himself,” Grii read out loud.

She put it back on the shelf.

 _I can’t imagine more than one person loving me,_ she thought mournfully.

She picked up the one next to it, hoping for something that she could relate to personally. The title of it read ‘Roses are Red’, with an inkling girl holding a bouquet of roses in the foreground while an inkling boy reaches his hand out to her in the background.

“Rose and Orchid are childhood friends. They’ve always had each other to lean on, and their bond is impenetrable. What Rose doesn’t realize, is that Orchid is in love with her. Will Orchid be able to confess his feelings to Rose, or will Rose stay naive as long as they live-”

Grii put the DVD back on the shelf, feeling hurt settle its way into her chest. Now she wish she hadn’t looked for something she could relate to

Suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulder, and nearly let out a scream as a long, slimy appendage dangled itself in front of her. It reached for the shelf, picked up a DVD, and handed it to her.

Grii raised her eyebrow and turned her head to the source of the arm and saw C.S. Lugh sitting on top of a stool. If Lugh had eyes, Grii could swear she would’ve winked.

“ROMANCE CAN BE DIFFICULT TO SIFT THROUGH AS A HEARTBROKEN SOUL, BUT I CAN TELL YOU’RE DOING THIS ALL FOR SOMEONE SPECIAL, AREN’T YOU?”

Grii tilted her head out of confusion.

“How did you know I was shopping for someone else?”

“YOU DON’T LOOK LIKE THE ROMANCE TYPE.”

Grii stared at the cover of the DVD Lugh handed her. It looked incredibly campy, with the two leads staring into each others eyes over sunset hues of the sky. Grii’s ears flattened against her head as she raised an eyebrow at Lugh, but the sea slug nodded at her and gestured to the front register.

“I don’t look like the romance type, but you handed me a campy movie..?”

“TRUST ME.”

Deciding that she’d rather not deal with more shouting than she’d ever want, Grii made her way to the front register, not without grabbing a handful of snacks as she did so. C. Appelle scanned each item, making a loud comment about each one as she slipped them into a bag. As she lifted up the DVD rental, she stayed silent for a few moments.

Grii felt uneasiness settle its way into her stomach.

“Is that movie okay?” She asked, unsure if she’d regret asking a question.

“HM… INTERESTING CHOICE. I’M NOT SURE WHY MY SISTER WOULD RECOMMEND THIS ONE TO YOU, BUT SHE’S THE ROMANCE EXPERT AROUND HERE. I’M JUST A HUGE FAN OF GORE... and violence.”  
Grii nodded and pretended not to be creeped out by that comment.

“I WILL TRUST HER JUDGEMENT ON THIS.”

Appelle handed Grii her bags by stretching out segments of herself to lift them up one by one. She handed Grii the receipt and circled the due date of the rental.

“ENJOY YOURSELF, FUNKY SQUID.”

“I will, I suppose,” Grii mumbled. She tried to smile, but her face became an abstract form of itself instead.

Outside of the movie rental store, Grii settled herself onto her moped, bewilderment still lingering in her mind. On the verge of a sensory overload, she took a few moments to sit still on her moped just to bring herself back into body. She gripped onto the bags she held, wrapping them around her hand for extra security, and drove off.

The ride home was uneventful, aside from the noticeable shift in time. Grii didn’t realize how late in the day it was; the sun already had started to set over the suburbs. _Hopefully Tenta wasn’t waiting for too long,_ she thought.

As she rode, Lugh’s observation echoed in her mind. _A heartbroken soul? How did she know just by looking at me?_ Of course, the sisters were strange in their own ways, so Grii took her statement with a grain of salt.

But that didn’t change how true it was.

When she entered through the front door the solace of her house washed over her; the quietness and non-offending smells comforted her as she came in. As she walked into the living room the back of Tenta’s reddish-pink tentacles came into view, still in the same spot before she left.

Grii was a bit shocked that the octoling could stay in one spot for so long, staring outside the window.  
“I’m home!” She announced in attempt to catch Tenta’s attention.

The octoling looked up at her from where she sat and smiled.

“Welcome home.”

Grii felt something flutter in her chest. What it was, exactly, she didn’t know. Excitement perhaps?

She set the bags from the video rental store on the table and pulled out each item one by one, before reaching the DVD. Tenta got up from where she sat and stood across the table, eyeing everything scattered about on the surface.

“Are these snacks?”

Grii nodded. “We’re gonna have a movie night,” she smiled.

“...A movie?” Tenta tilted her head. “Like a documentary?”

Grii lowered the hand holding the DVD in confusion.

“N… No? I mean, yeah there’s documentaries but they’re not the most exciting things to watch with friends. Do you not have like, ‘movie’ movies in Octo Valley? With stories and everything?”

Tenta shook her head. “Movies cost a lot of resources to make, so we generally use them for important information such as documentaries. I’ve never heard of them being used for entertainment.”

Grii smirked at her, toying with the DVD in her hand. “Well, think of it like a book, but you get to see everything happen without having to read.”

Tenta frowned and crossed her arms. “What is the point of that, then?”

“You’ll see,” she said flicking the DVD with her wrist. “You’re a big fan of romance, right?”

Tenta giggled. “I am, that is correct.”

“Why not give it a shot? I’ll let you pick out which snacks you want~” Grii offered.

“Alright, sure,” Tenta said with a shrug. “I’ll bite.”

The two settled down on the couch as the movie started to play, the house completely dark with the lights off and the sun setting fully. The only source of illumination was the T.V screen itself, filling the room with a variety of hues ranging from pink to yellow. A good hour into the movie, Grii felt herself falling asleep from boredom.

 _This is movie complete trash,_ Grii thought.

The acting was mediocre from the extras to the main cast. Any dramatic moment was overlaid by trails of sparkles coming from the tears of the main characters, which was even further out of place by the fact that it was a live action movie instead of an anime. An overarching theme was hope and growth, but it was nailed on the head far too many times to be considered “show don’t tell.” The plot had dragged for so long that it felt like an eternity for the climax to come into fruition, and when it did, it came entirely out of left field.

“The truth is, Mino,” one of the protagonists started, turning her head dramatically. “I’m not sure we can be together!”

As she turned, sparkly tears flowed out of her eyes nearly taking up the entire screen.

“That can’t be, Sal! You know we were made for each other, it’s true! It says it in the stars,” the other protagonist cried out. “Who cares what the others say? I love you!”

Grii felt her soul ascend from her body.

As quickly as it left her body, it reeled right back in at the presence of a weight on her arm. Tenta’s head rested by her side, her view locked on the television. Grii felt a wave of heat rise up from her chest to her cheeks. She couldn’t utter a word, let alone ask why Tenta was resting on her _like that._ One of Tenta’s tentacles began to grip around her arm, causing Grii to yelp in surprise.

“Are you okay?” Tenta squeaked.

Grii nodded frantically, pressing her lips into a thin line. _Octolings can grip their tentacles like that?_ She averted her eyes and locked them on the T.V, hoping Tenta wouldn’t ask any further questions. Grii didn’t want to admit to herself that it felt nice.

As the movie continued on, Grii felt herself begin ease, the tension stirring in herself fading. However, she still couldn’t fully relax. Her eyes kept trailing to Tenta as she felt fondness starting to slowly break its way into her heart. The octoling looked the most comfortable Grii had ever seen her since she arrived, an innocent smile gracing her face as the scenes unfolded on the screen. Even though the cold goggles continued to cover her eyes - as strange as it was that she didn’t remove them - the yellow reflecting off of it somehow illustrated the warmth inside of her.

Grii found herself smiling, too. She somehow had the urge to pull Tenta in closer with her other arm. Though she stopped focusing on the movie a long time ago, it became white noise in that moment. All she could focus on at that moment was Tenta, and only Tenta.

Grii’s smile dropped.

_Oh no._

She didn’t want to believe it, but here she was with an octoling resting on her side while watching a romance movie. Her ears flattened against her head as she tried to deny it, but she knew she couldn’t.

“Are you okay, Grii?”

Grii hadn’t realized Tenta’s head had turned to face her.

“I’m… Fine, yeah, totally,” She said, the words spilling out of her mouth. Her face turned red and she wasn’t sure if there was sweat dripping down her forehead.

“Your face is all red, are you catching a fever?”

Grii shook her head. “N-no, I’ll be okay. I promise.”

“...Very well, if you say so then.”

Heart beating in her ears, Grii glanced back at the T.V, surprised to see the credits rolling on the screen. To Grii’s dismay, the weight holding down her arm went away as Tenta sat up.

“How was the movie?” Grii asked her, trying to ignore the echoing thought that buzzed in her mind.

To her surprise, Tenta jolted upward, excitement taking her by storm.

“It was amazing! I could see everything unfold in front of me, there was music that went along with it, I could see how the characters interacted on screen..”

Grii smiled as Tenta continued to dump her thoughts out loud, the words eventually dissolving in the space around her as the only thing that caught her attention was how the octoling bounced in place as she talked. Tenta went on and on, yet the words continued to be drowned out by Grii’s own thoughts as a gentle blush settled her way into her cheeks.

_I… I have a crush on her._

“...I wish we had movies like this in Octo Valley!”

Grii nodded from where she sat. “Movies are pretty rad,” she responded, trying to keep composure. She struggled to brush away the realization that came moments before as her face grew a deeper shade of red.

“...Rad?” Tenta tilted her head.

Grii stared at Tenta for a few moments, her confusion breaking her train of thought. Grii found herself breaking into a fit of giggles.

“Yeah, ‘radical’, another word for cool, awesome, amazing,” she explained once she settled down.

Tenta frowned, then sat back down on the couch.

“Inklings have such strange ways of talking, I swear.”

“Oh, excuse me miss prim and proper with every sentence she says,” Grii teased, sticking out her tongue.

Tenta arched her back and stuck a hand on her chest, jokingly emulating an offended gesture.

“My, my, how uncouth these Inklings are! As an upstanding member of the Octarian society, I must set a good example for these inappropriate sea-swines,” Tenta spoke in a sing-song voice, but she couldn’t keep from laughing between each word as Grii laughed with her. “See, I could be worse. Can you imagine if I actually talked like that, like say, my grandma?”

Grii held her tongue. Saying she couldn’t tell the difference would definitely get her backhanded.

“You still talk so politely,” Grii pointed out. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say an actual bad word.”

“Like f-”

“Don’t say it.”

Tenta laughed, causing Grii’s chest to involuntarily swell. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments before Tenta spoke up again.

“What did you think of the movie, Grii?” She asked with a smile.

“It was okay, I’m not too big on romance honestly,” Grii shrugged. “I wish the employee at the video store didn’t call me out for it, though.”

Tenta didn’t respond. Instead, her face pointed to the ground.

“I’d like to live with a bit of romance, honestly,” Tenta trailed absentmindedly. “Maybe things wouldn’t be as difficult as they are.”

Grii frowned.

“I used to think that way,” she sighed. “But as much as I wish it were true, that love would fix everything, it… doesn’t.”

“You were in love?” Tenta asked, her head lifting up in surprise.

“I think I was, but… Looking back at it, I don’t think so now. I was just lonely, even if I did have friends.”

Grii took in a breath.

“I never talked with anyone about this before,” she admitted. Her heart felt heavy and her hands clenched as she stared down at them. “Only my cousin knows, and that’s because he witnessed it.”

She felt Tenta’s gaze rest on her with anticipation. Why she was telling her instead of anyone else that she knew was a mystery to her, but she may as well try to tell someone about it.

“...His name was Reddin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! If you wanna see me ramble about the fic some more (or in general) feel free to follow my twitter @kittydatefriend!
> 
> Also, please leave a comment if you can! It encourages me to keep going!
> 
> ALSO ALSO, thanks to rabbitpxl for helping me come up with C.S. Lugh and C. Appelle! ♥


	17. Update

\--Hi, this is a temporary update. I rewrote Chapter 1, 2, and 3 of this fic for clarity and the fact that Chapter 1 just straight up sucked, as well as changing Grii's motivator for going into Octo Valley (as reflected by the change in the fic summary). 4-6 have edits pertaining to world building, mainly how Octarian society views Inklings, and Chapter 10 has a change to something that's been bugging me since a week after I posted that chapter. Thank you for being patient, chapter 17 is currently in development and I hope to have it released soon--

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Breathing Underwater](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9657614) by [nastymajesty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nastymajesty/pseuds/nastymajesty)




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